Mykhailo Mudryk has joined Tottenham on loan from Chelsea to reunite boss Roberto De Zerbi with his football “son”.
The Ukraine international has left Stamford Bridge for Spurs in season-long deal that includes a £75million option to make it a permanent transfer, the Press Association understands.
Tosin Adarabioyo also made a deadline-day move from Chelsea to north London, moving to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for a fee understood to be £7m.
Spurs pivoted to Mudryk on Monday after a dramatic finale to a remarkable summer transfer window for the north London club.
After no progress with a pursuit for Liverpool forward Cody Gakpo, Tottenham reached an agreement in principle with Everton for Iliman Ndiaye on Sunday before Manchester City, having also missed out on Gakpo, stole in to sign the Senegal forward, forcing De Zerbi to turn to former player Mudryk.
“It’s a great feeling,” the Ukraine international said. “I can’t wait to start training and playing for the club and I’m so excited to be reunited with Roberto De Zerbi.
“I’m a player who brings speed and creativity and I want to help in both the offensive and defensive areas. I want to make the fans excited.
“I can see it’s a strong squad here with good players and I’m looking forward to sharing a pitch and special moments with them.”
Mudryk has only just returned from a 20-month suspension but worked with De Zerbi at Shakhtar Donetsk before earning a 100m euros (£89m) transfer to Chelsea in 2023.
It has been a difficult time for the 25-year-old after he was handed a ban at the end of 2024 by the Football Association due to an ‘adverse finding’ for banned substance meldonium.
However, the matter was resolved on July 31 and Mudryk will aim to rediscover his best form under De Zerbi.
Speaking during Tottenham’s pre-season tour of Australia when Mudryk’s ban ended, De Zerbi said: “He’s my son. I’m very happy. He deserves to play. He’s a cool guy, a top player.
“Hopefully he can show what he suffered in the last two years in this next season.”
De Zerbi has previously backed Mudryk to win the Ballon d’Or, but this transfer does represent a gamble for Spurs.
Mudryk has not played competitively for 20 months and joins a host of other players at Tottenham trying to get up to speed quickly after lengthy absences.
However, Mudryk has not been sidelined by an injury and did feature in pre-season for Chelsea to increase his fitness levels.
He will provide competition to Mathys Tel on the left wing and is joined at Tottenham by Chelsea team-mate Adarabioyo, whose arrival allowed Kevin Danso to join Sunderland.
Back-up centre-back Danso made clear last week his desire to leave Spurs for regular game-time and left on loan with an obligation for the move to become permanent should performance-related conditions be met.
Richarlison, whose future has been subject to much speculation, did not leave on deadline day but midfielder Pape Sarr completed a season-long loan to Juventus.
The deal includes the option to make the move permanent if certain obligations are met for a final fee of £25.7m.