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Mykhailo Mudryk remains a Chelsea player despite no longer having a designated squad number after the club gave away his No. 10 shirt to Cole Palmer last summer
Chelsea have wished Mykhailo Mudryk a happy birthday across their social media channels after the provisionally suspended player turned 25.
Mudryk has not played for the Blues in over a year after an "adverse finding in a routine urine test" led to the Football Association suspending him in December 2024. The FA then charged Mudryk with "Anti-Doping Rule Violations" last summer after alleging "the presence and/or use of a prohibited substance," and their case is still ongoing over six months later.
Then on Monday, the club posted a photo of Mudryk celebrating his goal against Panathinaikos during the league phase of last season's Conference League, tagging him in their post and captioning it: "Happy birthday, Misha!" Mudryk commented on Instagram with a blue heart emoji, as well as liking the post, which his teammates Marc Guiu and Wesley Fofana also liked.
The former Ukraine international also posted a photo of himself on his birthday with the caption "25". Axel Disasi, Ben Chilwell, Christopher Nkunku, Deivid Washington, Diego Moreira, Guiu, Mike Penders, Moises Caicedo, Nicolas Jackson, Reece James, Trevoh Chalobah and Tosin Adarabioyo all liked his post.
These birthday posts come just days after Mudryk shared his first post of 2026. "Happy New Year to all my fans," the player posted on Instagram.
"I just wanted to say thank you for your support. I see all your messages and truly appreciate them, so please don't give up on me as I [have] not give up on myself. Can't wait to see you soon."
Chelsea's statement at the time his suspension began said: "Chelsea Football Club can confirm the Football Association recently contacted our player Mykhailo Mudryk concerning an adverse finding in a routine urine test. Both the Club and Mykhailo fully support The FA's testing programme and all our players, including Mykhailo, are regularly tested.
"Mykhailo has confirmed categorically that he has never knowingly used any banned substances. Both Mykhailo and the Club will now work with the relevant authorities to establish what has caused the adverse finding."
Mudryk also said on social media: "I can confirm that I have been notified that a sample I provided to The FA contained a banned substance. This has come as a complete shock, as I have never knowingly used any banned substances or broken any rules, and am working closely with my team to investigate how this could have happened.
"I know that I have not done anything wrong and remain hopeful that I will be back on the pitch soon. I cannot say any more now due to the confidentiality of the process, but I will as soon as I can."
He punctuated the Instagram post with a blue heart emoji. Andrey Santos, Diego Moreira, Marc Cucurella and Thiago Silva all liked the post.
Chelsea's now-former head coach Enzo Maresca addressed Mudryk's charge during the Club World Cup. He said: "I spoke with Misha in Poland when we played the Conference League final. I haven't spoken with him since then.
"I didn't see the news, but it was communicated to me. There's nothing more I can add because I don't have more information.
"Misha is a Chelsea player. Until he is not, I will trust - and that goes for all the players.
"Last time I spoke to him, he was quite good. I didn't see him worried. I haven't spoken to him since then, so I don't know. But for sure we will have contact with him."
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