Mudryk suffers ankle injury in his third week as a Tottenham player

Mykhailo Mudryk has barely had time to enjoy his return to football. The 25-year-old Ukrainian winger, who joined Tottenham in the winter window on loan from Chelsea with an option to buy, suffered an ankle injury during training and will not play again until after the next international break. The setback arrives just as he was beginning to rediscover his best form.

• Mudryk injured his ankle in a Tottenham training session.
• He will be sidelined until after the upcoming international break.
• He had only played 16 minutes on his debut against Nottingham Forest.
• It was his first official match in 646 days following a doping ban.
• A longer-than-usual international break limits the club matches he misses.

The ankle injury that cuts short his Tottenham comeback

Bad luck has crossed Mudryk's path once again. Days after joining Tottenham and just when he was starting to recover his rhythm, an ankle injury picked up in training has forced him to stop. The London club has not set an exact recovery timeline, but the expectation is that the Ukrainian will be out until after the international break has concluded.

The setback is particularly cruel given the timing. Mudryk had made his debut the previous Saturday against Nottingham Forest and needed just 16 minutes to feel like a footballer again. It was his first official appearance in 646 days, a figure that sums up the ordeal he has endured since receiving a doping ban in late 2024 that kept him away from the pitch.

Mudryk was starting to see the light again, and then another obstacle appeared. The ankle injury has stopped him in his tracks.

From Chelsea to Tottenham: a loan designed for a fresh start

Mudryk's move to Tottenham was designed as a chance to reset his career. At Chelsea he never managed to establish himself, and the doping ban brought his progress to a halt. The loan with an option to buy at the end of the season offered him a new environment, away from the Stamford Bridge spotlight and under a coach who knows him well.

Roberto De Zerbi previously managed Mudryk at Shakhtar Donetsk, where the winger emerged as one of Europe's most exciting prospects. The Italian coach had called for patience with the Ukrainian and warned that he would need time to regain full match fitness. Nobody expected that process to be interrupted so quickly by another injury.

The doping ban that derailed his career

Mudryk had not played an official match since November 2024, when a doping suspension ruled him out of competition. The ban came as a major blow for a player who had joined Chelsea in January 2023 for a fee close to 100 million euros and was expected to be a difference-maker in the Premier League.

Throughout that period, the Ukrainian worked to maintain his fitness and restore his reputation. The loan to Tottenham was seen as the logical step to relaunch his career away from the noise surrounding Chelsea, with less pressure and a coach who already knows how to get the best out of him. The ankle injury, however, delays those plans.

Which Tottenham matches Mudryk will miss

The positive side for the winger is that the calendar offers some breathing room. The upcoming international break is longer than usual, which reduces the number of club fixtures he will miss. Mudryk will not be available for Tottenham's next matches, but the international break will let him focus on his recovery without the pressure of missing too many games.

He will, however, miss out on a Ukraine call-up he was hoping to earn. After such a long spell away from elite football, the player saw his time at Tottenham as a route back into the national team. The injury forces him to postpone that goal, though the delay should be shorter than on previous occasions.

De Zerbi's response to the new setback

De Zerbi had already warned in his early press conferences as Tottenham boss that Mudryk would need weeks to reach competitive rhythm. His plan involved easing the player in, giving him minutes off the bench and avoiding any kind of overload. The ankle injury comes precisely during that adaptation period and forces the process to restart almost from scratch.

Tottenham, meanwhile, lose an attacking option during a busy stretch of the season. The club is fighting for European places and every point matters. Mudryk's absence doesn't alter De Zerbi's starting plans, since he was being used as a rotation option, but it does reduce alternatives in attack.

Mudryk's history of injuries and suspensions

Mudryk's career has been marked by interruptions. Beyond the doping ban that kept him out of competition for 646 days, the Ukrainian has faced several setbacks since arriving in England. Muscle injuries, adaptation problems and a lack of continuity have prevented him from establishing himself at the highest level despite his obvious talent.

The winger is a player of sharp pace and precise striking, but that explosiveness also exposes him to physical issues. At Shakhtar Donetsk he enjoyed his most stable spell, with De Zerbi in charge and regular playing time that allowed him to multiply his goal contributions. Tottenham hope that, once he recovers from this ankle injury, he can rediscover that version of himself.

Tottenham signed Mudryk as a bet on both the present and the future. The ankle injury only delays a project in which the Ukrainian still has credit.

Outlook for the final stretch of the season

Mudryk's medium-term goal is to be in good condition for the final weeks of the campaign. The option to buy that Tottenham holds at the end of the season depends heavily on the minutes he can accumulate and the impression he leaves on the pitch. That is why every absence matters, and why this ankle injury hurts more than a simple medical report might suggest.

The Ukrainian will work during the international break to shorten his recovery time. If all goes as planned, he could return in the first match after the international window without having missed any club games. That would be a relative relief for a player used to living with bad luck.