Mauricio Pochettino is keen to hold talks with Mykhailo Mudryk and Levi Colwill (Getty)
Mauricio Pochettino insists he needs to speak with Mykhailo Mudryk and Levi Colwill before deciding their futures at Chelsea.
Chelsea beat strong competition from Arsenal to sign Mudryk in an £88.5 million deal from Shakhtar Donetsk in the January transfer window.
But the 22-year-old has struggled to make an impact since moving to Stamford Bridge, registering just two assists in 17 appearances last season.
Mudryk impressed for Ukraine at the Under-21 European Championship this summer and Pochettino is keen to develop a plan for the winger to thrive at Chelsea.
When asked about Mudryk’s situation at Chelsea, Pochettino said: ‘It’s really important to spend time to talk.
‘I’m going to meet him before he comes to pre-season. I really like to see and to know him, and then to design the best strategy to help him to be at the level that Chelsea expect.’
Mykhailo Mudryk impressed for Ukraine at the Under-21 Euros this summer (AP)
Colwill, meanwhile, has been the subject of intense speculation in recent weeks with Brighton already seeing their £30m offer for the 20-year-old rejected by Chelsea last month.
Liverpool and Manchester City have also expressed an interest in signing Colwill, who is yet to commit to the offer of a new contract from Chelsea.
And Pochettino is keen to speak with the defender, who played a key role in England’s success at the Under-21 Euros this summer.
Levi Colwill played a key role in England’s success at the Under-21 Euros (Getty)
‘I need to get a feel for him,’ Pochettino said when asked about Colwill.
‘I need to hear what he has in his mind. What he expects. And then, of course, for him to listen to what I expect from him.’
Pochettino also believes Raheem Sterling needed time to adapt following his £47.5m transfer from Manchester City last summer.
‘We are talking about a really good player,’ said Pochettino.
‘But sometimes it’s not easy for a player to adapt quickly and show the same performance that he maybe had at the other club. We need to reduce the number of people in the squad because it was so big. People need to find their space in the training ground, then in training, then in the team.
‘We can’t just blame the players. We need to see what is going on and why they are not performing in the way we expect. When all is clear, we cannot give excuses to them not to perform. We need to clean everything and say: ‘Come on – now it’s up to you, show me that you are ready to play for this club’.’
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‘I need to hear what he has in his mind. What he expects.’
