By OkayGoal
Mykhailo Mudryk has moved to Tottenham on a surprise season-long loan from Chelsea. His move to North London has a £75 million option to buy tagalong that could see this loan be converted into a permanent move.
🚨⚪️ Mykahylo Mudryk, new Tottenham player on loan deal with £75m buy option clause from Chelsea. pic.twitter.com/nf1j9OIQl3
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) September 1, 2026
And while it was a shocker of a transfer for the Lilywhites supporters, there are two honest ways to read this deal. One where Spurs have made a genuinely clever gamble by adding an explosive winger who is direct in his approach and has that experience to play in the English top tier. And already knows Roberto De Zerbi. All of that without committing to buy him outright. And another where this is simply the same player who never consistently delivered at Stamford Bridge.
The right answer probably sits between the two and the question worth actually asking is whether De Zerbi can finally unlock him.
What Mudryk Tottenham transfer brings at Hotspur Way
The first thing he brings is serious speed. This is a player who wants the ball and wants to attack space immediately. His is someone who is quite explosive over the first few yards. And he complements that explosiveness with his directness. You always see him wanting to run beyond a defender.
If (and when) given grass to run into, he can be genuinely frightening. He is not the kind of player you want receiving the ball surrounded by three defenders and asked to invent a solution in a tight space. He is someone who thrives in space, attacking a full-back, running into space with the ball delivered to him quickly.
What stands out most on closer inspection is his ability to carry the ball.
Tottenham have visibly struggled at times to break teams down through pure passing combinations against sides like Brentford and Newcastle, waiting patiently for the perfect pass while the opposition simply resets its shape. So having a Mudryk in your roster gives you a different solution entirely.
Give him space and he can carry Tottenham 30 yards up the pitch in a matter of seconds, turning a defensive position into an attack on the opposition’s back four almost instantly. That is especially valuable in transition. Win the ball, Omar Marmoush makes his run and Mudryk gets his head up and suddenly you have the Lilywhites attacking with numbers rather than allowing the opposition time to reset.
The De Zerbi connection
Brining in Mudryk is not as random punt as many think.
De Zerbi managed Mudryk at Shakhtar Donetsk and has previously said publicly that he believed the player had the potential to win the Ballon d’Or. That relationship is central to why this deal makes sense at all.
De Zerbi already knows exactly what Mudryk can do and, crucially, how to get it out of him. Sometimes a player like this does not need someone to discover what he is. He needs someone who already knows.
The environment matters too. Mudryk arrived at Chelsea in January 2023 for an initial £62 million with enormous expectation attached, a young player in a new country and a new league with every missed chance instantly labelled a flop and every heavy touch clipped for social media.
Across 73 appearances for Chelsea, he managed 21 goal contributions, a return that never matched the fee. At Tottenham, arriving on loan under a manager he trusts, he gets something closer to a genuine reset, without that same weight sitting on every touch.
Why caution with Mudryk is still justified
There are moments where Mudryk does the hardest part perfectly. He makes that an explosive run suddenly the defender is beaten and he is arriving in a genuinely dangerous position. But then the attack simply dies (something we have seen time and again from him during his time in West London). A wrong pass, a heavy touch, a shot forced when a teammate is in a far better position.
If Tottenham are ever going to seriously consider £75 million for him, then that pattern cannot keep repeating this season.
Ball retention is another area worth watching closely. Mudryk is naturally aggressive on the ball which is exactly what makes him exciting but playing for De Zerbi also means understanding when not to force the issue. Sometimes the smarter decision is not beating your man immediately, it is simply keeping possession, moving the opponent, and attacking the space that opens up a moment later. That is where he needs to mature.
It is a genuinely different profile to what someone like Kudus offers elsewhere in this Tottenham squad. Kudus is someone who is more about receiving under pressure and manipulating defenders through control rather than pure explosiveness. Different tools entirely but explosive does not automatically mean effective.
There is also the question of what he offers without the ball. Talent alone is not enough under De Zerbi. Where does he stand, where does he press, who triggers it, is he tracking the full-back or protecting the passing lane?
If Mudryk switches off out of possession, Premier League teams will find that space quickly and De Zerbi is likely to demand considerably more discipline there than Mudryk has shown up to now.
Where Mudryk will play at Tottenham?
Primarily off the left is where this works best, starting wide, stretching the pitch, giving the opposition full-back something to think about.
Once Tottenham get into attacking areas, letting him drift inside is where the speed becomes genuinely dangerous, the full-back overlapping outside him, Marmoush occupying the centre-back, Savinho threatening from the opposite flank. There is real pace across that front line if it clicks.
One version of this attack is genuinely exciting to picture, Mudryk, Marmoush and Savinho all running at a defence in transition together (especially when Tottenham are chasing the game). Win the ball and suddenly three genuinely quick attackers are bearing down on a defence with nobody quite sure who picks up who. That could be devastating. But potential does not put the ball in the net. It has to actually happen.
Author Opinion
Forget the £75 million number for now. Tottenham do not have to make that decision today.
Mudryk has a full season to prove he is worth that outlay, and what needs to change before that conversation becomes real is simple: consistency, goals, assists, sharper decision-making, genuine defensive contribution, and above all, performance over potential.
The honest word here is intrigued rather than convinced. There is not enough consistency in his Premier League history to call this an unquestionably smart signing, but there is also no reason to write it off given the loan structure, the low financial commitment, and a manager who already understands the player better than most. Tottenham have not bought the player Chelsea once hoped Mudryk would become. They have borrowed him for a season to find out whether De Zerbi can still create that player after all.