Mauricio Pochettino May Already Have His Own Son Heung-Min At Chelsea As Deal Gets Closer

It hasn’t been an ideal start for Mykhailo Mudryk at Chelsea but with Mauricio Pochettino set to be appointed as the club’s new first-team head coach, it could be a fresh start for the winger

Mauricio Pochettino got the best out of Son Heung-min during their days together at Tottenham (Image: Matthew Ashton – AMA/Getty Images)

Eleven games into Mykhailo Mudryk’s time at Chelsea and it’s safe to say he hasn’t set the world alight just yet. But some context is definitely needed in this instance.

The 22-year-old, who signed from Shakhtar Donetsk in January for a deal that will eventually be worth £89million, has only started six of those games with a lot of his playing time coming from the bench. In some of those appearances, the Ukraine international has looked really sharp but has thus far lacked the end product to really cement his place in the first team.

However, with Chelsea having virtually nothing to play for in the remaining games of the season, now would surely be more ideal of a time than any to implement Mudryk into the team a bit more. Many supporters were bemused when he was named on the bench in the 2-0 defeat to Brentford earlier in the week. He was brought on at half-time and looked bright when entering proceedings.

Interim head coach Frank Lampard looks set to be in charge for the rest of the season despite Chelsea’s continuous talks with Mauricio Pochettino over the vacant managerial position at Stamford Bridge. Negotiations between the two parties have been described to football.london as positive but it’s understood Pochettino would like to take charge at the end of the season if and when the appointment is agreed upon.

Pochettino proved during his five years in north London with Tottenham that he has the expertise and knowhow to get the best out of talented attacking players. Son Heung-min, for instance, was signed by Spurs when Pochettino was in charge of the club and the South Korean absolutely flourished under the Argentine.

Son quickly established himself as one of the most dangerous attackers in world football under Pochettino, who really set the former Bayer Leverkusen winger on his way at Tottenham. He was so good under Pochettino that it even got the prospective new Chelsea head coach to compare the 30-year-old to the great Lionel Messi.

“He works so hard, always pushing, never gives up. He tries, tries, tries. He’s like this in his effort with and without the ball, he’s very regular and consistent and that is most important,” Pochettino said about Son.

“Sonny is like when you have a battery, you work, work, work and then the battery is gone. He is like this, he gives you everything and when he’s exhausted he says: ‘I need to change’ or [that he] needs to rest. He’s like this.

“Always on the pitch he’s 100 per cent in every action without or without the ball. That is the most important thing, it’s a very good example for everyone, watching him play.

“Of course after the first season, he understood what we expected of him. Now if you see him, he’s one of the players who is always moving on the pitch, trying to get the best position in defensive and offensive situations. Always giving options to team-mates, running forward, dropping and then arriving from the second line. He is a very complete player today and we are so happy with his performance.”

Pochettino added: “It’s not about the distance, it’s about the quality of the run. You can run 12km but if you don’t have sprints or beat your opponent, and depends how you run it’s not going to affect the game.

“The most important thing is how you run and how you affect the game and the capacity and quality. It’s not about distance. It’s like if you say Messi ran a lot of distance.

“No, but in the distance he applied the pace, or how powerful he is in the moment which made the difference. Sonny is similar, the quality is top because he has a lot of quality in his movement.”

Mudryk will be hoping Pochettino can get similar results out of him should he be appointed as Chelsea head coach. The great thing for Pochettino is he has an absolute abundance of talent to work with if and when he does take over at Stamford Bridge. Mudryk is one of the most talented.

Source: football.london