When the transfer window comes around there are plenty of questions that football fans tend to ask.

And one that comes up a lot of the time is what is the worst transfer the Premier League has ever seen?

Romelu Lukaku to Chelsea, Paul Pogba to Man United and Nicolas Pepe to Arsenal are some of the nominations that get chucked around but we are here today to set the record straight. None of these are even close to the worst transfer the Premier League has ever seen.

That title instead goes to Mykhailo Mudryk for his move from Shakhtar Donetsk to Chelsea. Let me explain.

Mykhaylo Mudryk to Chelsea, here we go! Documents are being exchanged between Chelsea and Shakhtar. Deal will cost €100m package as Ukrainian club always wanted. 🚨🔵 #CFC

Mudryk, arriving in London tonight.

Medical tests booked on Sunday then he will sign contract until 2030. pic.twitter.com/mVxODeLYqn

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 14, 2023

Mudryk Before Chelsea

Before joining Chelsea in January 2023, Mudryk was one of the most speculated about players in the world. He had both Chelsea and Arsenal fighting for his signature and it was clear to see why.

Mudryk, despite making only a handful of appearances in the Ukrainian Premier League, was being compared to Ronaldinho and Shakthar’s president Darijo Srna even described him as “the best player in Europe in his position” after Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr. A lot of praise for such a young man.

The first half of the 2022/23 season, before his eventual move to Chelsea, saw him score 7 goals and grab 6 assists in just 12 games. Certainly not a bad return for the then 21 year old.

Arsenal and Chelsea then began battling for his signature and for a long time it seemed as though he would make the move to North London. However, Mudryk instead opted for a move to Chelsea in a deal worth around £88.5 million.

🗣️ Shakhtar DOF Darijo Srna on winger Mudryk:

“Mudryk is better than all the Brazilians we have ever had I have been in football all my life and I would dare to say that he is the best player in Europe in his position after Mbappe, Neymar and Vinicius.” [@Marca] pic.twitter.com/fu5vZj9aIc

— Arsenal Buzz (@ArsenalBuzzCom) October 5, 2022

Mudryk At Chelsea

With such high expectation on Mudryk’s shoulders, considering the praise he had previously received as well as his existential price tag, he was to be closely watched and scrutinised. And rightly so.

However, Mudryk is yet to prove any of those previously made comparisons correct.

Since signing, the Ukrainian international has made 59 appearances for Chelsea in all competitions. In that time he has only scored 7 goals and managed 4 assists. In fact he has seen more yellow cards than goals picking up 9 during his time at the club.

The numbers that Mudryk has put up since joining the league are not even close to what many Chelsea fans may have expected.

mudryk is the most frustrating chelsea player to watch ever, how can you nutmeg a player so effortlessly but can’t even complete a simple 5 yard pass

— samuel🇬🇭 (@cfc_sam11) August 22, 2024

Mudryk vs Other Players In His Position

The best way to truly show just how bad of a signing Mudryk is though is to compare him to some of the Premier League’s similar players.

The first player to compare is Nicolas Pepe. Pepe cost Arsenal a staggering £72 million and certainly didn’t live up to that price tag.

However compared to Mudryk as of right now the Pepe deal doesn’t seem that awful.

Overall in the Premier League Mudryk has made 46 appearances scoring 5 goals and getting 4 assists. Pepe made 80 appearances for the Gunners, so just under double the appearances. But he managed 16 goals and 9 assists in that run.

Although Pepe’s stats aren’t amazing if Mudryk continues in the same way as he has so far in the Premier League by the time he reaches the 80 game mark (the same amount of games as the Ivorian winger) he still won’t be close to Pepe’s output while at Arsenal.

But what about the man Arsenal signed instead of Mudryk, Leandro Trossard?

Trossard was a Premier League proven player and cost around £62.5 million less than Mudryk did. And in the time frame they have both been playing for their current clubs the difference is staggering.

Once again Mudryk has played less games than Trossard but the Belgium international’s impact with the Gunners has been clear to see. 20 goals and 13 assists in 71 Premier League appearances.

I’d argue Arsenal came away the better for not signing Mudryk in the end.

Arsenal when £90m Mudryk rejected them for Chelsea, so they had to sign Trossard for £27m instead. pic.twitter.com/slMaJ2x4dO

— Troll Football (@TrollFootball) September 17, 2023

Is Mudryk Truly The Worst Signing In Premier League History?

I think with all things considered it is a safe bet to say that Mudryk is the worst signing the Premier League has ever seen.

There was a lot of hype around him when he came into Chelsea. I remember some people saying that he had the potential to go on and win the Ballon d’Or for example. He was one of the most hyped up players in world football.

And considering the hype and the price tag in which Chelsea paid for him there should be no doubt in anyone's mind that Mudryk is a flop.

No other transfer that the league has seen has cost so much money, along with so much hype and yet seen such little output.

Unless something drastically changes this season I think it is safe to say that Mudryk is by far the worst signing in Premier League history.