It’s no secret that Chelsea’s Chelseaman’s nimble movements on the ball can leave spectators in awe. Some may argue that the Ukrainian possesses an unwavering engine in his legs, thanks to his burst of pace. At Chelsea, things may not have turned to gold for Mykhailo Mudryk, also known as ‘Micha,’ but it’s not an exaggeration to assert that he can easily be one of the most formidable wingers on the left flank for the Blues.
Our acquaintance with Micha is, for the most part, limited to his on-pitch highlights and his meteoric rise from being one of Shakhtar’s hottest prospects to a marquee signing for Chelsea. However, his journey towards stardom was far from a straightforward flight. Through disappointments, setbacks, and everything in between, he’s experienced it all, and here at Goal 90, we are here to present some of the breathtaking stories from his biography. We know he’s fast, but you can maintain a more leisurely pace while scrolling, so sit back and enjoy.
Family
Mykhailo was the second child in the loving union of Petrovych Mudryk and Inna Nikolaevna. He has an older sister who bears the name Tatyana. Has 1 sister who bears the name Tatyana. His sister is married and has two sons, making Micha the super-uncle.
Ethnicity
He is ethnically Ukrainian and a native of Krasnohrad which was a military garrison. His great grandfather was a soldier who fought during the first World War and died of PTSD associated with its carnage.
Religion
He is a devout follower of Christ. His grandmother was the one who augmented his religiosity and faith.
Marital Status
Mykhailo is currently unmarried and little is known about his love life and dating history.
Childhood
He was born in Krasnohrad on the 5th of January, 2001. He was raised by his parents with great care and affection. He also shares a very close bond with his older sister, Tatyana, who would babysit young Mykhailo and go swinging with him in the local parks.
He received his education from Kharkiv Metalist Academy, and this is where his infatuation for football stems from. He performed well in school and was also excelling in football. The one figure on the TV screen who had a resonating effect on his footballing journey was Cristiano Ronaldo. It wasn’t just his stupendous goals or fancy skills, but also his sheer determination to be nothing short of the greatest football player of all time.
However, an interesting fact related to his childhood was his fear of the dark and struggle with nightmares. Little Micha could simply not tolerate darkness, and his bedtime would often be accompanied by panic attacks. Once he did manage to close his eyes, he was frequently haunted by nightmares and horrid dreams. The remedy? A cross and selected supplications given to him by his grandmother. Micha slowly began to find solace in his grandma’s spiritual remedies, and with the passage of time, the struggle to sleep was brought to a sweet end.
Setting himself up
In the four years between 2010 to 2014, he worked on honing his gameplay and skills with Kharkiv Metalist. His synapse-jamming pace was his greatest asset but his coaches tried to incorporate more traits alongside it to turn him into a complete package.
In 2014, it was time for him to look for a greater challenge for his game’s furtherance.This prompted an attempt at Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk’s annual trials. He was simply too competent for other participants and passed them with much ease. However, it was 2016 that marked a new vigor in his footballing journey as he was offered a contract by Shakhtar based on positive reports received by their scouts. He graduated from their academy in 2018.
Serpentine Years
The young and aspiring Micha was granted his senior debut for Shakhtar in a cup match at the age of 17. However, his game time for the senior team was bound to be limited, and it didn’t take long for him to realize this reality. Hence, he requested a loan move, and in came Arsenal Kyiv for a winter loan. He played 10 games for the latter but had little to no influence on their performances; consequently, it made sense not to make the move permanent.
He returned to Shakhtar, but this time, he was sent to the reserves team to train with them. Although he was devastated, the young Micha took this as an opportunity to emerge as a greater player. However, he was loaned to Desna Chernihiv for the 2020-21 season and experienced a similar fate, as yet again, he had no influence on a foreign team’s performance, and there was nothing left to convince the higher-ups to make the loan move permanent.
Towards Footballing Glory
His loan move was terminated, and he was recalled to Shakhtar by his former gaffer, Roberto de Zerbi. He found new life in his second homecoming to Shakhtar as the Italian manager showed a lot of trust in him. In fact, he said the following: “If I don’t bring him (Mudryk) to a high level, I will consider it a personal defeat.”
He had a decent start to the 2021-22 season when he was named Player of the Month twice (November and December). He started off even stronger in the 2022-23 season by scoring and providing several assists along the way in the group stage, during which he played against RB Leipzig, Real Madrid, and Celtic.
During the winter transfer window that followed the 2022 World Cup, the exciting Ukrainian speedster was heavily linked to Arsenal, to the extent that even his medical dates were booked. However, it was Chelsea who managed to hijack the transfer and secure his services.
A Glance at his Tattoos
He has several tattoos on the appendicular parts of his body. Most of them are a reflection of his devotion to God and Jesus. In his own words, he says:
“All my tattoos have a meaning, but ‘Only Jesus’ is the biggest and most important”
Lifestyle
From a very young age, Micha has had an affinity for cars. He’s been seen posing with various cars alongside his friends during his vacations in Dubai. Given his rapid ascent to stardom, it won’t be long before we see him unveil his personal car collection.
While he does like to unwind by going on vacations across different continents, he still works tremendously hard to maintain his shape and remain in apex form. Here’s a video of him making the most of his training with little to no equipment:
Furthermore, he stays away from nightclubs in concordance with his religious beliefs.
Some Interesting Facts about Mykhailo Mudryk
- He’s been dubbed the “Ukrainian Neymar” owing to their similarities in playstyle.
- He had some attitude problems at Shakhtar, according to his former captain, Taras Stepanenko. One complaint that some of his coaches had was that he would pay little heed to their pieces of advice.
- He gained more popularity in his earlier days through TikTok than he did with football. He, along with his friends, would post freestyling reels that easily caught the eyes of many, often leading to some of his reels going viral at times.
- In July 2023, an old clip of Mykhailo Mudryk from his TikTok surfaced on the internet, where he was seen using racial slurs, most notably the notorious “N-word.” He would later go on to apologize for this mistake.
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