He kind of reminds me of Heung-Min Son of Tottenham”, Former Premier League defender, Stephen Kelly, compares Chelsea’s new signing, Mykhaylo Mudryk, to Heung-Min Son

Former Premier League defender Stephen Kelly tells the BBC Radio 5 Live Football Daily program that when Chelsea took the Ukraine international from Arsenal’s grasp, he saw many similarities between Mykhaylo Mudryk and Tottenham Hotspur striker Heung-Min Son.

To some extent, I understand Kelly’s point of view. When Shakhtar Donetsk played Celtic in a 1-1 draw in September, it took Mudryk only about five seconds to go from outside his own penalty area to within the width of Joe Hart’s posts, roasting Cameron Carter-Vickers like a Thanksgiving turkey before setting up a golden opportunity for Shakhtar teammate Danylo Sikan.

The worst miss in the history of the Champions League prevented Mudryk from recording an assist that would have been worthy of the best players in European history.

Even the Flash would have trouble keeping up with “Europe’s third-best left-winger” when he’s in full swing. Furthermore, Mudryk’s mind is as swift as his feet. Mudryk was averaging either a goal or an assist in every game for Shakhtar Donetsk before signing a record eight-and-a-half-year deal at Stamford Bridge over the weekend, with Chelsea doing to Arsenal what they did to Tottenham when signing Willian a decade ago.

Only 18 games, but 10 goals and 8 assists. One needs to just look at the numbers to see that this is the case.

“I’ve seen him play against Ireland on a few occasions, and he absolutely tore us apart. He just stood out (with) his pace,” says Kelly, formerly of Spurs, Fulham and Birmingham City.

“He kind of reminds me of Heung-Min Son of Tottenham; the way he plays, he’s so quick, both-footed and really direct,” Kelly added.

Fabrizio Romano claims that Arsenal backed out of the Mudryk deal when Chelsea made an outrageous offer of £88 million, of which £62 million would be paid upfront. Perhaps fearful of spending over the odds for an unknown but extremely potential player, the Gunners followed a similar tack when pursuing Lisandro Martinez, Raphinha, and Dusan Vlahovic.

Even if Mudryk were to join Arsenal, he wouldn’t assuredly start. Two of the most dangerous wide players in English football, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli, will be difficult to displace.