‘People can’t understand’… Nicolas Pepe thinks everyone is too harsh on ‘lucky’ Chelsea player

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Former Arsenal star Nicolas Pepe has come to the defence of one Chelsea player following his treatment since he has been at the club.

The Blues are currently away on a pre-season tour of the United States, with Enzo Maresca keen to get a good look at the entire squad he has available to him.

The bumper batch of friendlies got underway earlier this week with a 2-2 draw with Wrexham, where a large amount of his players got 45 minutes to show what they can do.

One individual who took his chance to impress was Lesley Ugochukwu, after he found the net in the second half.

One player who didn’t feature in any capacity though was Mykhailo Mudryk, despite making an early return to pre-season following his exit from Euro 2024.

Pepe says people are too harsh on Chelsea’s Mykhailo Mudryk

There is not a great deal of positivity surrounding the Ukraine international and his place at the club right now, however Pepe has told BBC Sport that from personal experience, the comments surrounding him are way too harsh.

He said: “If Arsenal bought me for £20m, maybe it’d be different, It’s not the player’s fault.

“They don’t ask for £100m or £90m. But that’s how it is in the football world and it’s something that people can’t understand.

“There are also players like [Mykhailo] Mudryk and Antony who don’t perform at their best all the time, and yet they’re not bad players.”

Pundit Martin Keown previously stated that a lot of the good stuff he had been doing was actually ‘lucky’, and that he could improve greatly still.

Mudryk’s place under pressure

His place in the side is likely to be under immense pressure this season, however one of the players looking to put themselves in contention has come from seemingly out of nowhere.

Tyrique George started on the left of attack in the first pre-season friendly, with him reportedly making big strides already since training under Maresca.

He will be looking to make the most of his minutes this summer in an attempt to avoid being loaned out, and instead making an impact in what is set to be a busy season at Stamford Bridge.