"He showed absolutely nothing" - Darren Bent blasts Chelsea star and claims whoever made decision to sign him should be sacked

Darren Bent has slammed the recruitment staff at Chelsea for bringing in Mykhailo Mudryk. The pundit laid into the Ukrainian winger for failing to make an impact in his side's Carabao Cup final defeat to Liverpool.

The Blues locked horns with the Merseysiders in the final of the tournament on Sunday (25 February). Raheem Sterling found the back of the net in the first half, but his goal was disallowed due to an offside in the build-up.

Virgil van Dijk had a header ruled out due to offside as well in the second half, but the Liverpool skipper managed to fire it home once again in extra time to secure the trophy.

Mudryk came off the bench at the end of the regulation 90 to replace Nicolas Jackson. The Ukraine international's display certainly did not impress Bent. The pundit said on talkSPORT:

"Whoever gave the green light for the Mudryk transfer for that amount of money deserves to be sacked. He came on and had no impact."

Bent added:

“When he came on I thought, ‘oh this might be his moment’ – a big pitch, Liverpool getting tired. His biggest attribute is his pace and he showed absolutely nothing."

Chelsea signed Mudryk from FC Shakhtar Donetsk in January 2023 for a reported £88.5 million. The winger is yet to hit his stride at Stamford Bridge, contributing just four goals and five assists in 43 games across competitions since his arrival.

"He’s not quite there" - Darren Bent on Mauricio Pochettino's future as Chelsea manager

Darren Bent believes Mauricio Pochettino is not the right man for the Chelsea job after his side's Carabao Cup defeat to Liverpool. Speaking on talkSPORT, the pundit was asked whether the Argentine has what it takes to lead the club.

While acknowledging Pochettino's five-year stint at Tottenham Hotspur that saw the club reach the Champions League final, Bent remains unconvinced of his abilities at Chelsea. He said:

“The job that he did at Tottenham was fantastic, but he had no budget. He’s now gone to Chelsea where the budget is huge and still nothing.I look at what Klopp did yesterday with the kids and think it’s top-level management. I look at what Poch did and the way they set up – I still don’t know the way that Chelsea are trying to play, that’s the big thing."

Bent added:

“History has shown that when it’s gets to the crunch time of cup finals and pushing for titles, he’s not quite there. On that evidence, you’d probably say no.”

The Blues have been in turbulent form under Pochettino in the Premier League this season. The west London outfit are 11th in the league table, 17 points adrift of the top four.