Sky pundit delighted by Everton’s Vitalii Mykolenko as he starts to fill Lucas Digne’s shoes
We’re delighted to welcome former Everton striker Kevin Campbell as our exclusive columnist. Each week the former Toffees captain will be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Goodison Park…
After a difficult start to life at Everton, Vitalii Mykolenko is showing signs of being a strong signing and Kevin Campbell predicts he will keep improving.
The young Ukrainian full-back has had to adapt to a new league at the same time as his home country was being invaded by Russia, and for a while he struggled to make an impact.
But after three Premier League starts in a row were capped off with a strong performance in the win over Manchester United, Sky Sports pundit Campbell thinks he beginning to fill predecessor Lucas Digne’s shoes.
The ex-Toffees striker exclusively told Goodison News: “Yeah, I think Lucas Digne is obviously a French international and he’s experienced in the Premier League.
“Mykolenko has taken some time to adjust. Because the Premier League is the hardest league in the world, because it’s so fast, and the quality is there.
“Obviously what’s going on [in Ukraine], there’s an emotional drain on him as well.
“It was great to see him have such a strong game [against Man United] but like anything, games are going to tell.
“The more he plays the better he’s going to get, the more he’s going to get a grip of the Premier League, a grasp of it.
“He’s only been at the club since January, so he’s not played a lot of football.
“This lad will get better and better. He’s got a really good left foot, and the team’s changed time and time again.
“This team needs to be settled. Probably get to the end of the season, get him a good pre-season. Frank Lampard makes the moves and changes, and then I think he’ll be fine.”
Having been signed by previous manager Rafael Benitez, the 22-year-old faced a difficult time to prove himself to Lampard, but appears to have now done so.
He has had a particularly tough task as the replacement for a high-quality and popular player, but looks like he is starting to show what he can bring.
From what has turned out to be a fairly disastrous January transfer window, the left-back is starting to look like the highlight amid the struggles of Nathan Patterson, Anwar El Ghazi, Dele Alli, and increasingly Donny van de Beek.
In other Everton news, the club are nearing the announcement of a major investment development.
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