CHELSEA rejected transfer offers for Myhailo Mduryk in the summer, just six months after his £88million arrival, according to reports.
The winger struggled to adjust to his new club after joining in January as he failed to score in 17 appearances.
He failed to nail down a regular starting spot and that led clubs to enquire about his availability, according to Fabrizio Romano.
But the transfer guru claims Chelsea never considered letting the Ukrainian leave.
That is because the club, from the board down to the manager, wanted to protect Mudryk and support him through a difficult patch.
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Romano adds that Chelsea have full trust in Mudryk to reach the potential that led them to splash out such a huge transfer fee earlier this year.
Mudryk is understood to be settled in London now and it appears the club's faith in him is beginning to pay off.
The 22-year-old scored his first goal for the club against Fulham in a 2-0 win earlier this month.
He followed that up with a goal against Arsenal at the weekend, albeit with a big slice of luck.
However, Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino warned Mudryk he still needs to improve, believing there is more to come from the former Shakhtar Donetsk star.
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On his Arsenal efforts, Pochettino said: "I think he played well but he also needs to improve. For me, he is still not at his best.
"I think we needed to make a change to add a little bit more pressure with Jackson in front.
"In that situation, we created a few chances and the game was closer to 3-0 than 2-1."
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