Why Roberto De Zerbi still thinks he can get the best out of ‘future Ballon d’Or winner’ Mykhailo Mudryk at Tottenham, from their Shakhtar secrets to the ‘hope’ of Spurs’ forward line

Tottenham’s latest great hope is that Roberto De Zerbi will work some magic on Mykhailo Mudryk.

De Zerbi once hailed Mudryk as a future Ballon D’Or winner and sure enough the footage from a time when he was Brighton boss has resurfaced since the pair were reunited at Spurs on transfer deadline day.

They worked together at Shakhtar Donetsk, so De Zerbi has a good appreciation of the 25-year-old Ukraine who has joined him on loan for the season with a £75million option to buy.

He knows the depth of the winger’s talent, his footballing strengths and weaknesses, his personality and attitude.

Unfortunately, much has gone awry for Mudryk since leaving Shakhtar.

His £89m move to Chelsea already looked like a flop when the doping ban hit in November 2024.

Mudryk and Roberto De Zerbi have reunited at Tottenham having worked together at Shakhtar Donetsk in the Ukraine

Now, two years after his last Premier League start, De Zerbi has set about the task of rekindling this talent and replenishing his morale in the hope it might solve a problem for Spurs.

It seems like a longshot and yet Mudryk is not the only great hope in play in N17.

Everyone hopes Dejan Kulusevski is nearing the end of his injury nightmare and will soon be back in contention. The same can be said for James Maddison and Mohamed Kudus, two of the most creative players at Spurs who hardly kicked a ball in 2026.

And for Dominic Solanke, whose last season was disrupted by injuries and who has missed part of pre-season with more niggling and unexplained issues.

Savio and Omar Marmoush have been lured from Manchester City’s bench in the hope they might recapture form they showed before moving to English football.

Mathys Tel remains an enigma 20 months after his arrival from Bayern Munich but is only 21, still young, a work in progress and everyone hopes he can fulfil his vast potential.

De Zerbi’s entire strike-force is built on hope.

Last night, Spurs confirmed their 25-man squad for the Premier League did not include Richarlison, the storm-tossed Brazilian now angling after a move to Trabzonspor before the Turkish transfer deadline on Friday.

Mudryk won player of the season in his one year under De Zerbi in 2021-22

 His form for Shakhtar earned him his £89m move to Chelsea in January 2023

Richarlison was the top scorer for Spurs last season, and for all his faults, his omission leaves the attacking unit dangerously low on game time in recent months.

Xavi Simons and Wilson Odobert are in the squad but weeks from fitness after serious knee injuries earlier this year and the other eight attacking or creative players total only 33 appearances and nine goals in the league this year.

There is never any such thing as a guarantee, but it feels like De Zerbi is taking off into the new season on a wing and a prayer when it comes to goals and an attacking threat.

Goals have been a problem ever since Ange Postecoglou’s lust for thrills was replaced by Thomas Frank’s caution and defensive security which cost the team fluency and sparked an over-reliance on goals from set pieces.

Since Frank was sacked, the threat from set pieces has faded and Spurs sold or released many of their strongest players in the air. Cristian Romero, Kevin Danso, Radu Dragusin, Joao Palhinha and Randal Kolo Muani have all departed.

Brentford tormented Spurs in the air on the opening day of the season. Others will take note.

Spurs’ defensive upgrade made sense. It was complete in good time, early in the summer and injected much-needed leadership, experience and proven Premier League quality into the squad.

Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes were expensive and are yet to find their best rhythm but should strengthen midfield.

Questions linger about Toni Kinsky as the number one goalkeeper, but when Cody Gakpo and Iliman Ndiaye escaped Spurs, it left uncertainty swirling around firepower.

De Zerbi’s team are one of three Premier League teams without a goal from the opening two games.

Mudryk’s career is at a crossroads and he desperately needs to revive his fortunes at Spurs

Still, there’s always hope.

Marmoush was red hot for 18 months at Eintracht Frankfurt. Savio had that good year at Girona and dazzled on his debut against Charlton’s reserves in the Carabao Cup only to miss the Newcastle defeat because Spurs physios detected muscle fatigue.

This is always a concern for those who are not conditioned by the rigours of regular competitive football.

Nobody expects Kulusevski will return in the same sublime form he was in under Postecoglou two years ago. Nobody would be surprised if he encountered a physical setback or two as he returned.

The same is true for Maddison, who for various reasons has not started a game for even longer than Kulusevski. And for Kudus, who has not started a game since January.

Mudryk has not been injured but has been out for the longest of all.

The relationship at Shakhtar counts for something, but it is a very tall order to expect De Zerbi to bring him back to the boil instantly.

Much of the excitement about Mudryk’s potential resides in a six-week spell when he scored eight in 10 games for Shakhtar, a flurry that sparked a rush for his signature, led by Arsenal for a long time and won by Chelsea who gave him an eight-and-a-half-year contract.

De Zerbi had left Ukraine by this stage. Having arrived at Shakhtar at the start of the season which never returned from its winter break because of Russia invading in February 2022, the Italian quit and was out of work until Brighton appointed him in September 2022.

He did give Mudryk his big break however, and the young winger responded.

Enzo Maresca was in charge of Chelsea when Mudryk returned the positive result for banned the substance meldonium in October 2024

‘I know the value of Mudryk,’ said De Zerbi when Brighton boss and Premier League clubs were chasing the Shakhtar winger. ‘He can win the Ballon D’Or in future. He has the quality to become a star.’

Mudryk’s exhilarating speed is his key asset, and he delivered many of his most exciting Shakhtar performances in the surreal environment of wartime football played at neutral venues behind closed doors.

Upon joining Chelsea in January 2023, he went 10 months without a goal.

He flickered without convincing amid the managerial whirl at Stamford Bridge from Graham Potter to Frank Lampard to Mauricio Pochettino and Enzo Maresca, who was in charge when he returned the positive result for the banned substance meldonium during an out-of-competition test while training with Ukraine in October 2024.

None of them denied he had genuine talent. None though could translate it to the Premier League.

By the time of the ban, Mudryk was firmly on the outskirts of Maresca’s team. His last three Chelsea goals were scored in the early rounds of what became a procession to the Europa Conference League.

In the Premier League under Maresca, he had been reduced to the role of a late substitute whose extreme pace might cause problems for tired defenders when the game was stretched open and misshapen near the end.

So, there is more to rehabilitating Mudryk than simply making up for time missed, he must also reach a level that seemed beyond him before the ban.

If he has an impact at Spurs it will be for the first time in English football and it will one way or another benefit their bitter London rivals Chelsea.

Perhaps it is a sign of De Zerbi’s desperation that he thinks it is worth a shot.

At least, with no European competition there is the time to work on the training pitch, drilling shape and searching of his best formula and should not need to overload those who are so short of competitive football.

Fingers crossed Spurs fans.