Seasons » 2015-16 » Everton News
Yarmolenko would favour games at Everton over the bench at Barca
56 Comments 
The Ukrainian international almost signed for Everton last August until Dynamo Kiev owner Igor Surkis decided instead to keep him for his club's Champions League campaign but the links with a move to Goodison persisted throughout the January transfer window.
A medial knee ligament injury might have lessened his chances of securing the move last month to "a bigger league" that Yarmolenko has been very open about pursuing – as would Dynamo's progression to the last 32 in Europe – but more good performances in the Champions League and then at Euro2016 are likely to make the 26-year-old a hot commodity in the summer.
With Barcelona and then Arsenal reportedly emerging as competition for Yarmolenko's signature in recent months, most Evertonians had probably written off their chances of landing a player who many feel could add more genuine star quality to Roberto Martinez's team.
However, the latest comments from the player himself are encouragingly down to earth and offer hope that he would still consider a move to Everton should Martinez follow up his interest with another approach for him at the end of the current season.
In an interview with Ukrainian news outlet Futbol, Yarmolenko was asked whether he would prefer to play twice a week at Goodison Park than sit on the bench at Barcelona's Camp Nou.
"It is better to play at Everton," the versatile attacking midfielder replied. "Of course you can go to Barcelona, make a cool selfie with Messi, put the images on Instagram and get a million likes and be pleased with yourself. But I'm not one of those.
"For me it is important to play matches. If I do not play twice a week, I have nowhere to throw out the emotions and energy. My family will go mad. If I play, the next day I am all calm and smile. If I missed the game and lay in the house, I immediately run into a quarrel."
Reader Comments (56)
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3 Posted 04/02/2016 at 18:16:10
4 Posted 04/02/2016 at 18:19:24
5 Posted 04/02/2016 at 18:19:43
To quote Don Draper "Why chase the girl that doesn't want to get caught."
7 Posted 04/02/2016 at 18:28:16
8 Posted 04/02/2016 at 18:28:34
"somewhere like GP" – so not necessarily GP.
9 Posted 04/02/2016 at 18:32:49
10 Posted 04/02/2016 at 18:32:51
I've edited the original piece accordingly.
But, like Stephen says, it's all just hypothetical based on the fact that we were so close to signing him. We probably don't stand a chance of getting him if we're not in Europe – not unless he shows us the same loyalty as he has to Kiev!
11 Posted 04/02/2016 at 18:34:42
12 Posted 04/02/2016 at 18:38:33
13 Posted 04/02/2016 at 18:40:17
These comments solidify my good opinions of the Ukranian though.
14 Posted 04/02/2016 at 18:44:01
With his family?
Oh yeah this is my kind of player – let's get this lad signed asap.
If he'll pick a nark with Mrs Yarmolenko and the kids when he doesn't play, just imagine the grief he'll give to teammates who don't put in a shift.
15 Posted 04/02/2016 at 18:51:54
16 Posted 04/02/2016 at 18:59:29
17 Posted 04/02/2016 at 19:16:30
18 Posted 04/02/2016 at 19:44:11
Come the summer we will be in pole position to sign him, although we know he will have many suitors, but if he fancies the Prem, we must be in the mix.
More likely, it's where we would accommodate him with Niasse set for the left hand birth?
19 Posted 04/02/2016 at 19:44:50
20 Posted 04/02/2016 at 19:56:12
But I do like what he had to say.
21 Posted 04/02/2016 at 19:58:22
22 Posted 04/02/2016 at 20:00:24
My main worry is losing Lukaku and Stones. We'll have a ton of money to spend but that never seems to quite work out for most clubs. They usually end up with high-priced mercenaries. I'd almost rather use that money to build a new stadium.
23 Posted 04/02/2016 at 20:00:48
24 Posted 04/02/2016 at 20:03:15
25 Posted 04/02/2016 at 20:09:11
If he was our marquee signing of the summer plus Begovic or equivalent and we'll be in a good position to push on.
26 Posted 04/02/2016 at 20:11:26
Besides our next manager might not like him.
27 Posted 04/02/2016 at 20:17:19
28 Posted 04/02/2016 at 21:02:47
29 Posted 04/02/2016 at 21:24:47
30 Posted 04/02/2016 at 21:29:36
He probably has also followed us for a long time - since we became interested in buying him. It may have dawned on him that he only has another 6/7 years of high earning left in his career if he does not move to the lucrative premiership next year then it may never happen. Obviously Man Utd, Man City and Arsenal are not interested so that leaves us but for how long?
ironically because of the money in straight out attitude of our Manager we might not be able to buy him next summer.
31 Posted 04/02/2016 at 21:32:50
32 Posted 04/02/2016 at 22:03:20
33 Posted 04/02/2016 at 22:28:29
That said, he seems pretty honourable - He's stayed loyal to Kiev. He didn't have to sign a new contract, so that tells me he has something about him and he's not just about the money.
36 Posted 05/02/2016 at 00:52:36
37 Posted 05/02/2016 at 00:56:01
38 Posted 05/02/2016 at 01:36:06
He's unproven in a good league and isn't anything special in the Champions League or for Ukraine.
Get over it.
39 Posted 05/02/2016 at 02:27:04
All I remember him doing was waltzing through as our defence parted like the red sea and dipping one in the top corner.
Barca don't even need him.
40 Posted 05/02/2016 at 05:35:04
Get over it, for fuck's sake.
41 Posted 05/02/2016 at 07:31:14
42 Posted 05/02/2016 at 07:43:53
43 Posted 05/02/2016 at 08:06:29
45 Posted 05/02/2016 at 09:31:11
I suspect the reality is that his agent is using our interest to draw out other bidders... otherwise he'd be with us by now.
46 Posted 05/02/2016 at 09:58:36
47 Posted 05/02/2016 at 12:15:48
The stand out point I notices was the argument bit with the missus.
1) He has the balls to have a barny with his wife
2) He is the narky little fucker that this team is missing (I am actually hoping Besic with fill this Peter Reid shaped hole in the team)
48 Posted 05/02/2016 at 12:53:39
49 Posted 05/02/2016 at 14:29:19
And is our board even interested in this player? Is he even on the market? Who knows?
50 Posted 05/02/2016 at 15:05:14
I don't know why but I have a really strong feeling that we are going to get him, I know that will probably come back to bite me in the end, but for some reason I just have an inkling that something may be already agreed (e.g. some sort of gentleman's agreement with Kiev)
51 Posted 05/02/2016 at 15:22:44
I agree with you, Yarmolenko is the type of player we need in order to evolve and is a step up on what we have currently Evolution and maturity takes time, patience is a virtue and, unfortunately, in very short supply on TW at the moment.
52 Posted 05/02/2016 at 15:58:29
Just heard Chelsea turned down £57 m for Oscar. Has the table turned on players wanting cash, not glory?
53 Posted 05/02/2016 at 16:25:45
It seems anyone and his dog are off to China, we will have to keep an eye on our players wanting Chinese takeaways.
54 Posted 05/02/2016 at 18:35:48
If he fully recovers from his injury then he is still young enough that you would get 3 or 4 years from him at his peak, and he will be on sufficient wages now that he obviously isn't just looking for the last chance to provide for his retirement.
Who cares who we already have; if he is better and is happy to come then why not try to get him?
55 Posted 05/02/2016 at 20:10:14
So any formation will have to have Ross as one of the attacking forwards. He just doesn't have defending of any sort on his CV. He can't even mark a man for a corner.
56 Posted 05/02/2016 at 20:27:19
Like so much else with this fantastic young footballer (and so many other gifted players), it depends how his head is fixed at any given time. It's true though that he's never going to be a gritty tackler and thank God for that.
58 Posted 06/02/2016 at 04:15:23
If, as has been suggested by such respected posters as Harold Mathews that our manager favours the Athletico Madrid model, Lukaku will be sold for a huge profit in the near future. Could that move herald our teams evolution to a 4 3 3 system?
59 Posted 06/02/2016 at 09:56:47
60 Posted 06/02/2016 at 13:35:59
Even at that tender age I filed under waste of time and moved on
61 Posted 06/02/2016 at 16:24:47
Currently Yarmolenko can stay were he is and be guaranteed hero status, top wages and a crack at the Champions League every year, but he may be worried about Putin and giving his family a link to Western Europe by living there for a while may be an attractive option.
So if he does move he may prefer to go somewhere where he will be an important member of the starting 11 week in week out in a competitive league, and the likes of Everton who will also offer good wages have a look in. Still not an easy decision to make and you can understand why he would take his time weighing up his options.
62 Posted 08/02/2016 at 09:40:07
I find it also funny how people want to sell Lukaku and Stones for $110m. Why would we sell our best striker? Also, who would bid for Stones at $50m at his current form, especially when some of our own are ripping into him like there's no tomorrow? I like them both and hope they will remain at the club with Yarm joining.
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2 Posted 04/02/2016 at 18:12:46
Ha, got to love that kind of attitude – good on yer Yarmalenko – get yourself across here for a selfie with Deulofeu and Lukaku before he disappears