KYIV, UKRAINE – SEPTEMBER 04: (BILD OUT) Vitaliy Mykolenko of Ukraine throws in during the FIFA … [+]
Everton are poised to sign Ukrainian left-back Vitaliy Mykolenko from Dynamo Kyiv as they begin to put Rafa Benitez’s plans for the January transfer window into action.
The club and Benitez haven’t found things easy after an encouraging start to the season, but they now have the opportunity to solve one of the main issues at the club—a lack of depth due to poor recruitment decisions in recent years.
For now, Benitez has been given a certain amount of control over the club’s transfer business after the departure of Director of Football Marcel Brands.
Following the shrewd signings of Andros Townsend and Demarai Gray in the summer transfer window it will be interesting to see who the Spaniard brings in this time around.
On the face of it, left-back doesn’t appear to be the area of the Everton squad most in need of strengthening, but with Lucas Digne currently out of the side due to disciplinary issues, the move begins to make more sense.
The fee of around $24 million also seems fairly high when Everton are obviously in need of extra quality in a number of positions, but there is potentially a considerable fee coming into the club if, as seems likely, Digne is sold.
At his best Digne is one of the most creative attacking full-backs in Europe. He has suffered a dip in form during the club’s recent slump, as many players have, and this makes his sale slightly more palatable for Everton even though it is far from an ideal scenario.
Despite the falling out with Benitez, the club should be able to get a decent fee for the left-back, especially as at 28 he’s still in his prime years and has a contract at Everton which runs until 2025 meaning he should retain his full value.
Selling one player for a considerable fee in order to strengthen a number of areas of the squad can make sense, and it’s here the signing of Mykolenko becomes more understandable.
Everton manager Rafael Benitez (right) speaks with Demarai Gray (left) and Lucas Digne during the … [+]
If Everton were just making one signing it might be a more confusing move, but Benitez has identified multiple targets ahead of the January transfer window and the club will pursue other players in addition to the arrival of the Ukrainian.
They are desperately in need of midfield reinforcements as there is a big drop-off in quality once Abdoulaye Doucoure or Allan are missing. They have also lacked strike power in the absence of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, and the right-back position behind Seamus Coleman should have been addressed years ago.
Regardless of whether Benitez will be at the helm long-term, the signings made in this window should have the future as well as the present in mind.
The club are currently undertaking a review of their football strategy so are in limbo in terms of the Director of Football type role, but Benitez being handed the reins for now at least adds clarity in a potentially confusing situation.
In terms of Mykolenko himself, Everton are getting a young player who has already interested Champions League and Europa League sides across Europe.
Vitaliy Mykolenko during the match between FC Barcelona and Dinamo Kiev, corresponding to the week 3 … [+]
It’s a surprise he’s remained at Dynamo Kyiv this long, especially after his profile was raised when he was part of the Ukraine squad at this year’s European Championships.
A move, at least to a top-five league even if not to one playing in Europe, is overdue, and Everton are the club who have finally gone to Dynamo’s asking price of over $22.5 million, with other clubs having previously offered around or below this amount.
They are getting a player who has the potential to replicate some of what Digne does, even if he is slightly different in style at the moment.
Some of this comes from the fact he has also played as a centre-back and he can tend to be more of a build-up player than a winger, but that’s not to say he doesn’t have those attacking, overlapping runs in his locker.
The actions map below, from smarterscout, shows a high number of short passes once he’s around the area, as well as some shots near the edge of it (indicated by white squares) which is an added feature of his game this season.
Vitaliy Mykolenko actions map 2021-22
Digne, by comparison, plays more long balls into the box in the form of crosses from closer the byline, as shown below (with longer passes in yellowand shorter passes in blue) from his actions map from the 2020-21 season.
Lucas Digne actions map 2020-21
This might be something Mykolenko is asked to do once at Everton with the aerial prowess of Calvert-Lewin to aim for, but his build-up play will also be handy.
It can be difficult to assess how a player will transfer their skills and performances across when moving from a dominant side in the Ukrainian Premier League to one scrapping for each point in the demanding and unforgiving English Premier League.
But at 22 Mykolenko is still developing his own style and should be useful for Benitez while being versatile enough to suit whoever the next Everton manager is. He’s also young enough to have good resale value should it come to that.
He’s similar in build to Digne, just an inch or two taller, and is also similar in terms of speed and reactions in defence when covering. He’s fairly switched on when it comes to recognising when he needs to get back and cover, probably thanks to his outings at centre-back.
This will also make him potentially useful on the left of a back three, and he could also perform wing-back duties in that formation if needed.
For the present Everton side, Benitez will hope Mykolenko can get to speed with the Premier League quickly. While he does so he could spend some time as backup to Ben Godfrey, who has impressed in the left-back role in recent weeks. Everton’s other left-back option, Niels Nkounkou, is halfway through a season-long loan at Standard Liege where he is getting regular game time.
Even if Digne wasn’t on the fringes due to disciplinary issues, his sale might make sense anyway.
Everton just need to make sure they use any money they bring in more prudently than they have in the past.