MYKHAILO MUDRYK showed off his inspirational custom shin pads after scoring his first Chelsea goal last night.
The Ukrainian got off the mark with a low left-footed shot as he sent the Blues on their way to a 2-0 win at Fulham.
Mudryk, 22, joined Chelsea for £97m in January after the West Londoners beat off competition from Arsenal.
The winger had a tough start to life at Stamford Bridge, failing to score in his first 23 appearances for the club.
But his perseverance has paid off, helping him grab his first goal in appearance No24 last night.
After the game, the former Shakhtar Donetsk star posted a series of photos from the game on Instagram.
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He captioned them: ” With You all I can.
“Great team performance.
“Big honour to score my first goal for such a big club like a Chelsea. Thanks our fans for big support.”
In the final picture, Mudryk revealed his shin pads.
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On them was twice written the word “Can’t”, with a Jesus-like figure grasping the T in the second version.
On the third ‘Can’t’, the figure appears to carry the T away like a cross.
Below that was then the amended version, simply reading “Can”.
The religious star also had orthodox Christian imagery with him.
Commenting on Mudryk – whose body is covered in religious tattoos – one fan wrote, followed by flame emojis: “This is too hard.”
While a second gushed: “A true believer.”
Another added: “His mentality is top, proper warrior and proper chels.”
Mudryk also received plenty of support from his team-mates.
Enzo Fernandez commented: “You deserve misha.”
While Raheem Sterling added a lightning bolt emoji.
Carney Chukwuemeka wrote “Mishaaa” followed by two flame emojis.
While Robert Sanchez added: “Vamos!!!”
We need to understand that young people need time and need to settle
Mauricio Pochettino
After the game, boss Mauricio Pochettino said of Mudryk: “We need to understand that young people need time and need to settle. It’s about adaptation.
“It’s a big change when Mudryk arrived here and when you arrive at a team, it’s not easy to settle in a team that isn’t solid. He wasn’t the cherry on the cake, they needed to add something to the team.
“It’s about time, having patience, trusting these young talented players, building confidence. It’s a big job, step by step.
“Sometimes people don’t have the patience but for us it’s about having the patience. Even when we weren’t winning, we were calm, stayed positive, had the belief.”
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Explaining why Mudryk was withdrawn at half-time, Pochettino added: “‘He felt something in his quad which we need to assess. He didn’t feel comfortable to keep playing.
“We hope it’s not a big issue, we hope it’s nothing big and he can be available for Saturday.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
