Xabi Alonso has revealed that Mykhailo Mudryk will rejoin his Chelsea team-mates after the winger’s ban for doping was lifted.
The Ukrainian was handed a provisional ban in December 2024 by the Football Association for failing a drugs test, and in June 2025, he was charged with violating anti-doping rules, and a four-year ban was threatened.
That ban came into force in April of this year, lasting until 2028 to take into account the time he had already spent out of the game.
But on July 31, all charges were dropped against the forward, who is now free to play again after such a long spell out.
The 25-year-old moved to Stamford Bridge from Skakhtar Donetsk back in 2023 for £62million, and he has scored five goals in 53 appearances for the club.
Now, he could be set to add to those tallies, as he joins back up with his team-mates when they travel to Hong Kong to continue their pre-season campaign.
The Blues were beaten 2-1 by Tottenham in the final match of their Australia leg, to follow on from a 6-4 win over Western Sydney Wanderers.
Speaking after the defeat by Spurs at the Accor Stadium in Sydney, Alonso gave his reaction to Mudryk’s newfound availability.
“We are happy for him,” he said.
“We are probably not able to understand what he has been through in these moments. We want him to be a part of the team. He has the support of everyone.
“It will take time but once things have changed, things will start moving. It’s massive. He wants to play football and be part of the team, it must have been really hard for him.
“I watched him at Shakhtar, the impact he had, how good he is in one-v-one situations. He can create a lot of situations on his own. He's a special player.”
Chelsea face Juventus next up in Hong Kong on Wednesday, before they travel to Jakarta, Indonesia to play AC Milan.
Johor Darul Ta'zim are their next opponents in Malaysia after that, before they fly home to take on Real Sociedad in Alonso’s first match in charge at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues open their Premier League season against west London rivals Fulham on Monday, August 24.
