With Italy facing Ukraine in the Euro Qualifiers this Tuesday, outlet Sport Italia managed to hold an interview with Diego Longo.
The manager used to be an assistant at Dinamo Kiev, and therefore has big knowledge of Ukrainian football, having seen the rise of their current stars.
One of them is Chelsea’s Mykhaylo Mudryk, with Sport Italia asking if he’s the ‘first danger’ the Azzurri should be concerned about.
“Mudryk is a big danger, an extraordinary player. I was lucky enough to see him and meet him. To tell you the truth even to suggest him to some Italian clubs when he was worth very little. But as always the answer was that they couldn’t risk it.
Mudryk played for the 90 minutes in the match against England at the weekend. Despite the 12 appearances he had for the Ukranian national team, he hasn’t scored any international goals yet, getting three assists so far.
Chelsea spent €70m to sign the winger from Shakhtar Donetsk back in January, and the situation is similar at the Blues. After 20 games, he has two assists, but still hasn’t been able to find his first goal yet.
Playing under Mauricio Pochettino this season, Mudryk has 66 minutes in three matches. There’s still a long way to prove he was worth Chelsea’s investment, although there’s clear confidence in Ukraine that he’s a star on the rise.
