Roberto De Zerbi is set to be reunited with a football "son" after Tottenham reached an agreement with Chelsea for the loan signing of Mykhailo Mudryk, the Press Association understands.
A deal has also been agreed for Tosin Adarabioyo to move to Spurs from Stamford Bridge permanently for a fee understood to be £7million.
Spurs pivoted to Ukraine international Mudryk on Monday after a dramatic finale to a remarkable summer transfer window for the north London club.
Roberto De Zerbi worked with Mudryk at Shakhtar Donetsk (John Walton/PA)
After no progress with a pursuit for Liverpool forward Cody Gakpo, Tottenham reached an agreement in principle with Everton for Iliman Ndiaye on Sunday before Manchester City – having also missed out on Gakpo – pulled off a hijack, which forced De Zerbi to turn to former player Mudryk.
Mudryk only returned from a 20-month suspension last month but worked with De Zerbi at Shakhtar Donetsk before earning a 100million euros (£89m) transfer to Chelsea in 2023.
It has been a difficult time for the 25-year-old after he was handed a ban at the end of 2024 by the Football Association due to an "adverse finding" for banned substance meldonium.
However, the matter was resolved on July 31 and Mudryk will aim to rediscover his best form under De Zerbi on a season-long loan deal that includes a £75m option to potentially make it a permanent transfer, PA understands.
Mudryk celebrates after scoring for Chelsea against Arsenal in October 2023 (Nigel French/PA)
Speaking during Tottenham's pre-season tour of Australia when Mudryk's ban ended, De Zerbi said: "He's my son.
"I'm very happy. He deserves to play. He's a cool guy, a top player.
"Hopefully he can show what he suffered in the last two years in this next season."
De Zerbi has previously backed Mudryk to win the Ballon d'Or, but this transfer does represent a gamble for Spurs.
Kevin Danso has made clear his desire to leave Spurs (John Walton/PA)
Mudryk has not played competitively for 20 months and joins a host of other players at Tottenham trying to get up to speed quickly after lengthy absences.
