Everton defender Vitalii Mykolenko named as 26th most valuable rookie – report
Everton defender Vitalii Mykolenko has been named as the 26th most valuable rookie in Europe’s big five leagues, in a study done by CIES Football Observatory.
In a study to establish the 50 most valuable Under-23 players across Europe big five leagues, who made their senior debuts this season, the Everton left-back was listed.
He was given a value of €15.8m (£13.1m), which is lower than what the board paid to bring the 22-year-old to Goodison Park during the January transfer window when they agreed a £17m deal with Dynamo Kyiv.
The value placed him just below halfway in the list, behind Premier League players Marc Guehi, Valentino Livramento and Michael Olise.
The top three players were RB Leipzig duo Josko Gvardiol (£80.3m) and Dominik Szoboszlai (£50.3m) as Barcelona’s Gavi (£48.9m) rounded off the podium places.
Talent
Rafa Benitez had an absolute horror show during his time at Goodison Park this season, but he will be thanked by blues fans if the club are able to develop Mykolenko to his full potential.
The Ukraine ace has shown plenty of potential during his time at the club, flying up and down the wing and battling hard to help the team cement their status as a Premier League outfit.
His form has seen him earn the first-choice position on the left hand side of the defence either at full-back or wing-back, making Lucas Digne a distant memory for many.
While it seems as though they have overpaid for him based on this, nobody will care if he continues to develop and improve as a defender and becomes a mainstay of the team going forward.
It shows that the club are at least planning well for the future, with the addition of Nathan Patterson to the squad too.
In other Everton news, Alan Shearer names Everton ace in Premier League team of the week after win v Manchester United
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