Ex-Chelsea player and manager, Frank Lampard has revealed he came close to signing Mykhailo Mudryk during his time as manager of Everton.

Mudryk scored his first Chelsea goal on Monday night, as the Blues beat Fulham 2-0. The Ukrainian joined the West London side in January, and has seemed to struggle to adapt to English football since the move.

Lampard and Mudryk worked together while the former midfielder managed Chelsea on a caretaker basis towards the end of last season, and according to him, he wanted to sign the 22-year-old for Everton before Chelsea got to him.

“His pace is a huge strength as well as his technical ability when he is dribbling and finishing,” Lampard said about Mudryk ahead of Chelsea’s win at Craven Cottage on Monday.

“I used to take training, he is a compulsive finisher, in a positive way. He would stay out after training to shoot. He is a very good finisher.

“We haven’t seen much of that in the Premier League but you have to say this young boy has only just moved [into a new league].

“I used to watch a lot of clips of him as Everton manager. We wanted to buy him at the time but it was probably never going to happen.

“He moved on to Chelsea, and I have seen a lot of him. People are now aware of his pace and are trying to stop him from running at them.

“We know the impact he can have. In the game against Liverpool, it was like, ‘Wow – what have we got here?’ – he’s lightning. He can outrun pretty much anyone in the league. His end product can be better but that’s typical for a young player.”