Boxing star Oleksandr Usyk makes bold prediction for the Ballon d'Or award, he's convinced it will happen

Unified heavyweight champ Oleksandr Usyk is convinced that marquee Chelsea signing Mykhailo Mudryk could bring the coveted Ballon d’Or award back to Ukraine.

Chelsea pipped north London rivals Arsenal in the race to sign Mudryk from Shakhtar Donetsk, with the Blues splashing out a whopping £89m transfer fee in January.

Mudryk has shown moments of brilliance for Chelsea against both Liverpool and Leicester, but the Ukrainian winger has struggled to live up to his hefty price tag.

The 22­-year-old Chelsea star, who inked a seven-and-a-half-year deal with the Premier League club, has failed to score in his first seven appearances for the Blues.

Despite his early struggles at Stamford Bridge, Mudryk has been tipped to follow in the same footsteps as Oleh Blokhin, Igor Belanov and Andriy Shevchenko by winning a Ballon d’Or.

That is according to Usyk, who believes the Ukraine international is “worth a little more than 100million” and is a big admirer of fellow Ukrainian Mudryk.

When asked about Mudryk’s transfer fee for his move to Chelsea, Usyk told Parimatch: “No, it doesn’t. Everything has risen.

“Prices, and money, are a little higher than they were. I think he’s worth a little more than 100million because I’ve been watching this guy.

“I saw him for the first time playing for the U18 or U19 team. The hairstyle that catches your eye, the tattoos, I mean, he was playing, and I was watching him, and I liked him.

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“It seems to me that this guy can bring the fourth Ballon d’Or to Ukraine. I like it [English football], it’s tougher.

“There’s fewer boys fall rolling and screaming ‘ouch!’ I mean, they go toe to toe, the bone sticks out and they keep running. I like this kind of football better.”

Mudryk was met with criticism over his performance in Ukraine’s 2-0 defeat to England in his country’s Euro 2024 qualifier at Wembley on Sunday.

Ukraine interim manager Ruslan Rotan withdrew Mudryk in the second half, with Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka both scoring for England in their win.

Topics: Mykhailo Mudryk, Oleksandr Usyk, Chelsea, Premier League, England, Football

Adnan Riaz

Adnan Riaz is a journalist for SPORTbible. He studied for a B.A. in History at the University of York and followed it up with an M.A. in Multimedia Journalism at MMU. Before he started writing about sports, he spent over four years in the gaming press. He has worked for several publications, including Hardcore Gamer, LADbible and the Manchester Evening News. Follow him on Twitter to find out what he is working on next. Got a story tip for Adnan? Email him: [email protected]

@AdnanRiaz9