Mykhailo Mudryk

Biography of Mykhailo Mudryk

Mykhailo Mudryk is a professional Ukrainian football player born on January 5, 2001 in Krasnohrad, Járkov Oblast. He is internationally recognized as one of the young promises of European football thanks to his outstanding performances in the Champions League with Shaktar Donetsk. In January 2023, his transfer to Chelsea F.C. generated great media attention.

 

Family life

Mykhailo Mudryk grew up surrounded by his family, consisting of his parents Inna Nikolaevna Mudryk and Petrovyche Mudryk, as well as his sister Tatyana. His deceased grandmother, Fedorova Lyudmila Dmitrievna, played an important role in his personal and spiritual formation, helping him overcome his fears from an early age.

 

Beginning in Football

Mykhailo Mudryk began his football career in the youth divisions of Shaktar Donetsk, making his professional debut on October 31, 2018 in a Ukrainian Cup match. In 2019, he was loaned to the same competition’s team, Arsenal Kiev, where he made his debut on March 3, 2019.

After his loan period ended, he returned to Shaktar Donetsk to face the 2019-2020 season. With the team, he won the local league title and played in three games, accumulating more than 80 minutes.

In the 2020-2021 season, he was loaned again, this time to FC Desna Chernihiv in Ukraine, where he played in ten games in the first half of the season. For the end of the season he returned to Shaktar Donetsk where he played in six games, demonstrating exceptional performance which led him to be recognized as the best player of Shaktar in the months of November and December. This predicted a starring role for what would be the 2021-2022 season.

The 2021-2022 season would launch Mykhailo Mudryk as the figure of Shaktar. After playing 12 games he managed to score 7 goals and give 7 assists, which would make him the leader of his team in the local tournament. However, his international recognition came thanks to his outstanding performances in the Champions League, especially for the media impact that faced teams like Inter Milan, Celtic of Scotland, and the most times winner of the competition, the legendary Real Madrid. Mykhailo Mudryk managed to score 3 goals and give 2 assists in 6 games, besides showing a high level in each of the games played in the group stage. According to local media, Mykhailo Mudryk was recognized as the best Ukrainian footballer of the season.

 

Mykhailo Mudryk and his move to Chelsea F.C

After long negotiations that seemed to bring the Ukrainian player to Arsenal in England, an unexpected turn placed Mykhailo Mudryk as the new player of Chelsea F.C. On January 14, 2023, the player’s transfer was officially announced for a total of 100 million euros (70 million direct and 30 million in bonuses). This operation became the highest transfer of a Ukrainian player in history and the highest of the winter market in England, at the time the operation was completed.

“Dear God,

if today I lose hope,

please remind me that

your plans are better than

my dreams…”

Tattoo on Mykhailo Mudryk’s chest.

 

Curiosities about Mykhailo Mudryk

• Mykhailo Mudryk had problems with nightmares in his childhood, but he overcame them thanks to the help of his grandmother, who helped him overcome his fear of darkness through a portrait of the archangel Michael and advising him to make the sign of the cross before going to sleep.
• He is known for having religious tattoos, which indicates that religion plays an important role in his life.
• He began his football career in the youth divisions of Shaktar Donetsk and made his professional debut in a match of the Ukrainian Cup in October 2018.
• He was loaned twice to teams of the same competition, first to Arsenal Kiev and later to FC Desna Chernihiv, where he showed outstanding performance.
• He was recognized as the best player of Shaktar in the months of November and December of the 2020-2021 season, which forecasted a leading role for what would be the 2021-2022 season.