De Zerbi's Bold Ballon d'Or Prediction for Mudryk at Spurs

Roberto De Zerbi is not backing away from his most audacious prediction. Not now, not after everything that has happened to Mykhailo Mudryk in England.

The Italian coach still believes the Ukrainian winger has the potential to win the Ballon d'Or – and he is prepared to stake his reputation on it once again, this time from the Tottenham dugout.

A reunion with high stakes

Mudryk arrived at Spurs on deadline day, slipping across London on a season-long loan from Chelsea. Tottenham hold an option to buy him next summer for £75 million, a figure that underlines both the scale of the gamble and the size of the talent they think they are reviving.

For Mudryk, the move is more than a change of shirt. It is a return to the coach who first unlocked him.

At Shakhtar Donetsk, under De Zerbi, he went from promising youngster to one of the most coveted wide players in Europe. That spell, interrupted and reshaped by the outbreak of war in Ukraine, forged a bond between player and manager that still clearly runs deep.

"We spent a very particular season together in Shakhtar," De Zerbi said, as quoted by ESPN. "When the war started, we were together. And when I spoke about the Ballon d'Or, I was very clear. Maybe my English is not so good, but I was very clear because I was speaking about the potential of the player."

He has not shifted from that stance. The key word for him is still "potential".

"The potential of the player can be the same and can respect the prediction or not," he added. The ceiling, in De Zerbi’s eyes, has not moved.

From €100m star to stalled project

Mudryk’s Chelsea chapter has been brutal. Signed in January 2023 for a package worth around €100m, he arrived at Stamford Bridge as a statement signing. He leaves, at least temporarily, as a symbol of a project that has struggled to find coherence.

The numbers and performances have not matched the fee. Confidence has drained. Rhythm has gone. A lengthy spell away from elite football, capped by a suspension, left him drifting on the margins of the game he was supposed to light up.

De Zerbi did not gloss over that.

"Until now, he has had many problems," he admitted. "The last problem, the suspension for whatever was the problem, but the [outcome] is clear. And now his challenge is to respect all his qualities because he's a great player."

That word again: challenge. The Italian framed this season at Spurs as a test of whether Mudryk can finally align his talent with his output.

"He has to leave this season in a right way, not too [much] pressure, but it is the right moment for him to show [his ability] because if Chelsea paid €100m four years ago. I think they brought a lot of big, big players and to spend €100m, I think they thought very well about the qualities of Mudryk."

The message is pointed. Chelsea did not throw that money on a whim. The qualities that persuaded them are still there. It is now on the player to prove it.

Spurs’ plan: minutes first, miracles later

For all the Ballon d'Or talk, the immediate objective is far more basic: get Mudryk back on the pitch, back in shape, back feeling like a footballer again.

De Zerbi was honest about where the 25-year-old is physically. After so long without consistent, high-level minutes, he cannot yet be dropped straight into the Premier League’s intensity from the start.

The Italian expects a gradual reintroduction.

Mudryk, he confirmed, is ready for a cameo – somewhere between 15 and 30 minutes – in Saturday’s game against Nottingham Forest. A short window, but a significant one. A first look for Spurs fans. A first step for a player trying to restart his career.

If the old spark returns under the man who helped create it, Tottenham’s £75m option suddenly looks less like a risk and more like an opportunity.

For now, though, the Ballon d'Or is a distant dream. The real battle begins with those first few touches in a white shirt and a simple question: can De Zerbi’s faith drag Mudryk’s career back to where everyone once thought it was heading?