More problems for Chelsea! £89m winger Mykhailo Mudryk ruled out of Luton clash as Mauricio Pochettino's injury list grows

The Blues invested £89 million ($113m) worth of faith in Mudryk during the January transfer window, with rival interest from London neighbours Arsenal fended off in order to land the pacey 22-year-old forward. They have seen little return on that show of faith through 19 goalless appearances.

The hope had been that Mudryk would rediscover a spark in 2023-24, but he has now been ruled out of Mauricio Pochettino’s plans for a Premier League home date with newly-promoted Luton on Friday. A minor knock is keeping the Ukraine international stuck on the sidelines.

Pochettino has said of Mudryk when delivering a fitness update: “A few days, but he won't be available for tomorrow. He is a player we hope to help him perform in the way we believe he can perform. It is not a big issue, we need to wait one week or maybe a few days.”

Mudryk has joined Benoit Badiashile, Armando Broja, Trevoh Chalobah, Carney Chukwuemeka, Wesley Fofana, Reece James and Christopher Nkunku in the treatment room, with Pochettino adding on Chelsea’s injury struggles: “Many of them are bad luck. Nkunku and Carney or Fofana. How can you control? It's not about training or methodology. It sometimes happens. In some others, many factors can influence. It's tough to talk in general because situations are different. We need to talk about Carney, Broja, Mudyrk, and it is difficult to explain. In general you can talk bad luck or bad training session. For sure it is bad luck in Carney, Broja, Fofana, Nkunku.”