Mykhailo Mudryk finally jogged back on to a Premier League pitch on Saturday, coming off the bench in Tottenham’s goalless draw at Nottingham Forest. It was his first competitive appearance in 646 days, the endpoint of a doping case that at one point carried a four-year ban.
Days later, the Ukrainian pulled up in training. An ankle problem will now keep him out for roughly two months, ruling him out of the trip to Everton, the Carabao Cup tie against Liverpool and the Premier League fixture at home to Aston Villa, according to reports on the injury.
For a player trying to rebuild after one of English football’s highest-profile doping cases, the timing is unforgiving.
From £88m Chelsea signing to season-long loan
Mudryk joined Tottenham on transfer deadline day on a season-long loan from Chelsea, reuniting with Roberto De Zerbi, his coach at Shakhtar Donetsk. Chelsea signed him from Shakhtar in January 2023 for around £88m, but he managed only 10 goals in 73 appearances before his career was frozen by the anti-doping case.
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De Zerbi, speaking after the Forest draw about the fitness of his new attacking options, was cautious.
“He’s not ready yet. He’s working to reach the best physical condition. He needs time, he needs work,” the Italian said of Mudryk.
“In that position, we have Mathys Tel, big potential. But also Mathys takes too many wrong decisions, and Mudryk. So, two big players, two big potential players.”
The doping case, resolved on appeal
Mudryk’s absence began in the autumn of 2024. An out-of-competition sample collected on 22 October 2024 was found to contain a low concentration of meldonium, a prohibited heart medication, and he was notified of the finding on 4 December 2024 alongside a provisional suspension. He had not played competitively since.
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An independent Regulatory Commission imposed a four-year period of ineligibility after a hearing in January 2026. The case then went to appeal, and on 30 July 2026 the Football Association confirmed it had resolved the appeal with Mudryk and WADA. In the FA’s words, “Mr Mudryk is no longer ineligible and may return to competition with immediate effect.”
A key factor was a change to WADA’s technical rules on meldonium: the FA noted that if Mudryk’s sample were collected under current standards, the concentration would not have been reported and no violation would have followed. The change was not retroactive, but it shaped the settlement.
Mudryk had always maintained the sample was contaminated during Ukraine international duty. Chelsea, who publicly backed the resolution, described his suspension as “the most difficult period of his career” and offered to support his return.
A goalless Tottenham that badly needed him
The injury lands on a team already stuck for goals. Tottenham have not scored in their opening three Premier League fixtures under De Zerbi, losing at home to Brentford, going down at Newcastle and drawing 0-0 at the City Ground without a single shot on target, a start no Spurs side has had since 1974-75.
De Zerbi has spoken repeatedly about needing time with a squad rebuilt at a cost of more than £350m over the summer. Mudryk was one of the deadline-day signings meant to add unpredictability in the final third.
Instead, Everton this weekend, Liverpool in the Carabao Cup and Aston Villa in the league will all pass without him.
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