Converting delimited string to multiple values in mysql

This is called walking a string. Here's an example of how you might do it with the specs provided:

You'll need to create a table which contains as many integers as the length of the field + 1. So if the field's length is 255, you will need 256 records which just contain a single number from 0-255.

int_table:

+---+
| i |
+---+
| 0 |
| 1 |
| 2 |
| 3 |
| 4 |
| 5 |
| 6 |
+---+

Next, you will need a query which joins on this table and checks if a comma exists in that location or not. (I called your table legacy_table with the fields client and items, respectively.)

select 
  legacy_table.client, 
  substring(
    legacy_table.items, 
    int_table.i + 1, 
    if(
      locate(',', legacy_table.items, int_table.i + 1) = 0, 
      length(legacy_table.items) + 1, 
      locate(',', legacy_table.items, int_table.i + 1)
    ) - (int_table.i + 1)
  ) as item
from legacy_table, int_table
where legacy_table.client = 'xyz001'
  and int_table.i < length(legacy_table.items)
  and (
    (int_table.i = 0) 
    or (substring(legacy_table.items, int_table.i, 1) = ',')
  )

It may not be efficient enough for you to actually use it, but I thought I'd present it as an example just so you know what is available.

You can do this with a Numbers or Tally table which contains a sequential list of integers:

Select Substring(T.List, N.Value, Locate(', ', T.List + ', ', N.Value) - N.Value)
From Numbers As N
    Cross Join MyTable As T
Where N.Value <= Len(T.List)
    And Substring(', ' + T.List, N.Value, 1) = ', '

In the above case, my Numbers table is structured like so:

Create Table Numbers( Value int not null primary key )