COLE PALMER has switched to the No10 shirt at Chelsea – casting further doubt over Mykhailo Mudryk’s future.
The winger has been provisionally suspended since December after failing a doping test while on international duty with Ukraine.
Confirmation of Mudryk’s B-sample results has still not been announced – with the £88.5million forward potentially facing a four-year ban.
Chelsea and boss Enzo Maresca declared their support for the 24-year-old when news of his failed drugs test emerged.
However, Maresca was caught off guard by Mudryk turning up and meeting fans in Wroclaw, Poland ahead of last week’s Conference League final.
Asked about Mudryk being in Poland, Maresca said: “He is here? I don’t know. I am happy for Mischa to be here.”
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The former Shakhtar Donetsk player joined his team-mates at their party to celebrate winning the trophy and posed with a medal.
But just over a week after partying with teammates, Murdyk has been replaced as the Blues’ No10 by star man Palmer.
Chelsea insist it is no reflection of his personal situation and that – ahead of the new season – he will be assigned a new number.
Mudryk wore the No15 shirt when he arrived at Stamford Bridge in January 2023 but was given the No10 after Christian Pulisic left the club that summer.
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Palmer arrived from Manchester City at the same time and has worn No20 since.
Chelsea’s announcement confirming the change did not mention Mudryk.
The club have also confirmed that new £30m striker Liam Delap will wear the vacant No9 shirt for his new club.
Delap will look to break the trend of Chelsea No9s failing to make an impact.
The shirt number has been vacant for two years with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Romelu Lukaku, Gonzalo Higuain, Alvaro Morata, Radamel Falcao and Fernando Torres all having struggled in West London while wearing No9.
Palmer seems certain his former City youth team-mate Delap will not suffer the same fate.
He said: “I’m excited to play with him. I was messaging him asking If he was coming and that.
“I played with him at Under 18s, 21s. We went to the first team together.
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“‘He’s a great striker, one of the best in the Premier League. You can see from last season.
“So I think he’ll help us a lot and hopefully score lots of goals.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
