Ben Chilwell was sad to see his close friend Mason Mount leave Chelsea (Picture: Getty)
Ben Chilwell is confident Mykhailo Mudryk will fulfil his ‘bags of potential’ at Chelsea next season and ‘hopes’ Mason Mount shines for new club Manchester United.
Mudryk endured an underwhelming first few months in the Premier League following an £89m January move from Shakhtar Donetsk.
Much was expected of the Ukraine international, who Arsenal also tried to sign, but he is yet to score in 17 appearances at Stamford Bridge.
Mudryk has put his early struggles to one side to impress in pre-season under new manager Mauricio Pochettino and Chilwell believes he can justify his price-tag next term.
‘I just see endless bags of potential that hasn’t been fulfilled yet. I’ve told him that, I’m not just saying it,’ Chilwell said of Mudryk .‘I’ve told him he hasn’t fulfilled that yet for one reason or another.
‘I literally had a conversation with him today after training in the changing room, because he’s been on fire the last few days and obviously was on fire in the game against Brighton and I just said he needs to keep that up now for the whole season.
‘We all see how good he is and he just needs to keep up what he’s been doing.’
Mudryk is one of several new arrivals at Chelsea over the past 12 months, though the club have focused their attentions this summer on trimming Pochettino’s squad.
One of the players to have left Stamford Bridge is Chelsea academy graduate Mount, who completed a £50m move to Premier League rivals Manchester United.
Chilwell was gutted to see his close friend Mount leave west London but hopes he does well at Old Trafford.
‘Mason was one of my closest friends on the team,’ the England left-back added to Football London.
‘On a personal level, you are going to miss one of your best mates that you spent a lot of time with at the training ground and away from the training ground.
‘I think I said it on my Instagram when he left, he was one of the reasons why I joined the club, so of course it’s sad for me personally to see him leave.
‘But I am not going to comment on his reasoning for leaving. I just wish him the best and I am sure in his head he’s made the right decision.
‘I am happy for him and hopefully he can go there and do well.’
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‘He was one of the reasons I joined the club.’
