Shakhtar Donetsk sporting director Darijo Srna has issued a warning to Tottenham loan signing Mykhailo Mudryk, highlighting one key problem the winger must address.
Tottenham Hotspur’s attack has failed to score a goal this season in the Premier League after three games, and that is a problem Roberto De Zerbi must address.
The Tottenham boss has been critical of his attack, and he has not held back in his assessment of left‑winger Mathys Tel either.
Tel has been relied on in all three games this campaign, but the wide forward still has so much to improve in his game. While the Frenchman possesses great one-v-one dribbling ability, his decision-making in the final third has left a lot to be desired.
Tottenham have secured Mykhailo Mudryk coup thanks to Roberto De Zerbi
With Tel still developing his game, it is no surprise Tottenham moved to bring Mykhailo Mudryk in on loan on deadline day.
The 25-year-old has already made his Spurs debut after coming on for the final 14 minutes in Spurs’ clash against Nottingham Forest. However, Mudryk then picked up an injury in training and could miss the next seven games.
But Shakhtar Donetsk sporting director Darijo Srna is convinced that Mudryk still possesses the qualities to become a top player.
He said, as relayed by Sport.ua: “When you look at Mudryk, he has more qualities than everyone else put together. But some of Shakhtar’s coaches were focusing on today rather than tomorrow, saying he doesn’t drop back on defence, or he loses the ball, or something else. But I fell in love with Mudryk right away.”
Darijo also recalled a conversation he had with De Zerbi about the winger before the Italian became Shakhtar’s head coach.
“We were sitting at the Opera, talking with De Zerbi. He pointed out to me, ‘Where is this player? At Desna. He’ll be my star player. Call him.’ That was my first meeting with De Zerbi. I called him, and he said, ‘Misha, if I become Shakhtar’s coach, you’ll be my star player’.”
“Then, unfortunately, he joined Chelsea… They changed the coach, changed the system. In short, chaos. And, unfortunately, what happened, happened, but he managed to get out of that situation. We stayed in touch the whole time,” Srna explained.
Srna sends Mykhailo Mudryk message over Spurs problem
Darijo Srna also sent a message to his former player to fix a major problem so that he can showcase his qualities at Spurs.
Srna believes Mudryk’s dedication to improving his game is not necessarily the issue, but that the winger needs to find the right balance in his training and focus more on the game itself.
However, despite that, he remains convinced that Mudryk has a bright future ahead of him.
“Misha has one big problem: he trains too much. He’d stay after our practice for another two hours, working on his shots on goal,” he added.
“He’s a great kid, but he needs to think about the game, too. It’s the right thing to do, but he needs to find a balance. He used to stay late at Chelsea, too. I’m sure he has a bright future ahead of him. He’ll be a superstar.”