Tottenham Hotspur boss Roberto De Zerbi gathered the few points needed to keep the team in the Premier League after he was appointed near the end of last season, but 2026/27 has got off to a miserable start.
Spurs are winless and goalless after their first three Premier League matches. Losses against Brentford and Newcastle United preceded a 0-0 draw against Nottingham Forest last Saturday.
After spending a reported £313 million on new signings in the summer transfer window, albeit offset by some big sales, it's been an alarming return to the kind of results that put Spurs in relegation trouble last season.
Mykhailo Mudryk's training ground injury gives Spurs a problem
The North London club made a number of eye-catching acquisitions over the summer but one of the most surprising moves of all was a season-long loan deal for Chelsea winger Mykhailo Mudryk.
De Zerbi has long been an advocate of the Ukraine international, a player he tipped for a Ballon d'Or-worthy future when they were together at Shakhtar Donetsk. He certainly saw the best of Mudryk, who was genuinely exciting in the Champions League group stage in 2021/22.
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The 25-year-old signed for Chelsea in January 2023 but struggled to live up to the expectations set by the previous season, and there was worse to come.
Mudryk was provisionally banned in December 2024 after failing a drugs test. Eventually, he was formally issued with a four-year ban that would have seen him out of action until the end of 2028. He appealed, and the charge was dropped in July.
The Forest match was Mudryk's first competitive appearance for nearly two years. Clearly, there's an element of risk that comes with that – De Zerbi and Spurs absorbed that risk from Chelsea and now find themselves paying an injured player.
Mudryk could miss the next two months after sustaining an ankle injury in training this week.
"The 25-year-old is understood to have sustained the injury on Monday and is currently believed to be in protective boot," reports BBC Sport.
"The injury coincides with a three-week international break and a return in October is considered a realistic prospect."
Mudryk's injury leaves Spurs paying for a player who is missing not only for a couple of months but at a time when he needed to be working his way back to match fitness and getting up to speed with De Zerbi's methods as he aims to turn Spurs around.
It's one of the most important seasons of Mudryk's career, too. His injury is a bitter blow at a crucial juncture.
