Report: Vitaliy Mykolenko signs Everton contract as £19.6m deal agreed with Dynamo Kyiv
Dynamo Kyiv defender Vitaliy Mykolenko has signed for Everton this week, according to Romanian news outlet Playsport.
News started to emerge from Ukraine on Tuesday (14 December) that Everton had made a bid for the 22-year-old, with suggestions that it was all but done.
That’s now the case, as per Playsport‘s report, with the 21-cap Ukraine star signing a contract with the Blues, and he will join the Merseyside club “soon”.
The transfer is said to be costing Everton £19.6million after they beat Roma to his signature, despite a personal request from their manager Jose Mourinho.
Playsport claims the deal to sign Mykolenko was all agreed on Tuesday and that it will be formalised “in the next period”.
Signed, sealed, due to be delivered?
Firstly, it’s important to recognise the source here.
The fact that the news has emerged via an ‘exclusive’ from Romania may seem strange, but Dynamo’s boss is Bucharest-born Mircea Lucescu, one of the most decorated managers of all time, who was in charge of the Romanian national team between 1981-1986.
Therefore, it’s only logical that those in his homeland will follow his movements closely and break stories involving his side.
Playsport seem to suggest that this is a done deal with everything signed and just an announcement now due to formalise Mykolenko’s move to Everton.
If this does indeed happen, it may come as something of a shock given the numbers involved – Everton were only able to spend £1.7million in the summer transfer window, on Demarai Gray, as they suffered under financial rules.
But now they look set to splash out more than ten times that on a left-back.
If it does happen, surely there are more in the offing, because is left-back the most important area to strengthen? The Blues need another option in that position, but unless Lucas Digne is surplus to requirements now, an upgrade at right-back should be the first port of call.
In other Everton news, a journalist has responded to a suggestion that this Blues player could be set for a sensational swap deal a Serie A hero.
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