Despite the good times rolling once again at Chelsea, Mykhailo Mudryk’s failed drugs test could push the Blues back towards financial problems.
The Ukrainian winger was provisionally suspended on December 17 after testing positive for a banned substance.
It is believed that Meldonium was found in his system in the ‘A’ sample and now he and the club are waiting on results of the ‘B’ sample.
Mudryk was signed from Shakhtar Donetsk just over a year ago in January 2023 in a massive £88million deal and given a whopping eight-and-a-half-year contract.
Should the 23-year-old’s ‘B’ sample come back positive, he could be subjected to a ban in the region of four years, something that won’t just give Chelsea a headache, it’ll be the mother of all migraines.
Explaining how complex the issue is in regards to the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules, football finance expert Kieran Maguire filled talkSPORT in on the details.
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Speaking to Hawksbee and Jacobs, he explained: “There are two issues here, if he fails the drugs test and is subject to a four-year ban, which I believe to be the maximum, then what they will have to do is take a look at the existing value of his contract which he signed for £88m over eight years and they’re going to have to write it down to what they think they could sell the player for in four years time, or alternatively write off the whole contract.
“That would have significant implications as far as PSR is concerned, looking at the Premier League handbook there doesn’t appear to be any form of get out clause under these circumstances so he could be a very big hit for PSR.”
This isn’t the first time Chelsea have been hit with a drugs ban for a player, with 2003 star signing Adrian Mutu suspended for recreational drugs rather than performance enhancing in 2005.
In that case the Blues sought compensation and were successful – the player was forced to pay Chelsea millions out of his own pocket – which could happen with Mudryk, under certain circumstances.
Maguire explained: “There is a sort of precedent when Chelsea signed Adrian Mutu about 20 years ago and he was subject to a different type of failure of a test, but they tried to recover the money and they were awarded £14m by the court from the player himself.
“There are a lot of outstanding issues. If the player is found guilty there will be what we sometimes refer to as a ‘badwill’ clause in the contract which says that if you conduct yourself in an unprofessional manor then that could constitute gross misconduct and therefore under those circumstances the club is entitled to rip up the contract and then seek some form of redress.
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“If there is a gross misconduct clause in the contract and that is deemed to be part of a drugs misdemeanour, then the club will look at the small print and see what their options are.
“One option is to suspend the player, another is to terminate the contract, and under those circumstances would they be entitled to any compensation from the player himself? There was a huge investment and he has signed a very long contract.
“At the time I think there were a lot of observers who said this could really work for the club if the player goes on to improve and they’ve got an increasing value asset and they’re locked in for many years.
“The downside and risk is that you’re also locked in if things go wrong, so it really does come down to taking appropriate legal advice and I’m sure Chelsea will go down that route should the worst happen.”
Mudryk, on his part, hopes that the worst won’t happen, as he said in a statement following the revelation.
“I can confirm that I have been notified that a sample I provided to The FA contained a banned substance,” he wrote on Instagram.
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“This has come as a complete shock as I have never knowingly used any banned substances or broken any rules, and am working closely with my team to investigate how this could have happened.
“I know that I have not done anything wrong and remain hopeful that I will be back on the pitch soon.
“I cannot say any more now due to the confidentiality of the process, but I will as soon as I can.”