Ferdinand speaks on Chelsea January signee’s style of play

Former Manchester United star, Rio Ferdinand has pointed out a major concern with Mykhailo Mudryk’s style of play following the Ukraine international underwhelming home debut for the Blues over the weekend.

Mudryk’s performance on Saturday was different from the player Chelsea fans and a host of pundits hailed after he came off the bench in the second half against Liverpool at Anfield a fortnight ago.

The Ukraine star made his full debut on Saturday against Fulham but his threat was easily snuffed out by a Fulham defence.

He was, however, subbed off after just 45 minutes by Graham Potter and replaced by fellow January recruit Noni Madueke.

Defending his poor performance, the Blues manager Graham Potter said the player had a ‘heavy cold’ but Ferdinard fears he is the type of player who could struggle against packed defences.

He told BT Sport: “You have to have a bit of balance to it.

“His game, from the clips I’ve seen, he’s at his best when there is space in behind to run. He played against a team [Fulham] yesterday that were in a bit of a low block.

“They condensed the pitch that made it more difficult for him, so that’s something he’s going to have to work out in time.”