Credit: Imago

James Barker

Thu 26 March 2026 20:10, UK

Everton defender Vitalii Mykolenko and midfielder Tim Iroegbunam are playing for their Toffees future in the final weeks of the Premier League season.

David Moyes’ side are hoping to make a big push towards the European places over the final seven games, and both Mykolenko and Iroegbunam need to finish the campaign strong.

Mykolenko, 26, has endured another up and down year on Merseyside, but has been able to maintain a place in Moyes’ starting XI over the duration of the season.

Iroegbunam, however, hasn’t quite been able to cement a starting role at Hill Dickinson Stadium this term, but has still been in the lineup for 13 of his 23 top flight appearances in 2025-26.

So, with matches running out, both of these two are facing highly uncertain futures at Everton beyond this summer.

Why Vitalii Mykolenko needs big finish to Everton’s season

Mykolenko is out of contract with Everton at the end of this season, meaning these final seven games of the campaign really do have his Toffees future riding on them.

The Ukrainian international firmly divides opinion among Everton fans, as when he’s at his best, he looks every bit of a left-back capable of commanding that flank of the Toffees’ defence for the future.

However, when he’s not on song, the former Dynamo Kyiv man has had some very rough performances this season, and has many calling for an upgrade to be found via the transfer market.

As per Sofascore, he’s registered a dribble success rate of just 35 per cent in the league this season, which for the attack-minded full-back that he is, isn’t a great return at all.

He’s also given the ball away an average of 14.7 times per game, won just 49 per cent of his ground duels and made one error leading to a goal for the opposition.

On the flip side though, he’s also making 4.3 clearances, recovering 3.4 balls, winning 1.4 tackles and recording 1.0 interceptions per game this term too.

Mykolenko’s underlying numbers are fairly all over the place, which comes back to the crux of his big Everton issue: consistency.

If he wants to give himself the best chance of winning a new contract with the Toffees before hitting the free agent market, then he must show in these final games that he can be trusted to provide a more stable and higher floor of performances.

Tim Iroegbunam’s contract situation could force summer sale

Everton are also facing a contract situation with Iroegbunam, who is only contracted at Hill Dickinson Stadium until the summer of 2027.

That means that if Everton don’t feel as though the 22-year-old is good enough to play a larger role in their team, then selling him this summer would make a lot of sense.

If he wishes to avoid that potential fate, however, then Iroegbunam must fight his way through the central midfield crowd and lock-in a starting role in the Everton engine room.

Idrissa Gueye is 36 and is out of contract this summer, and so if a decision is soon made that he won’t be returning for next season, then Iroegbunam may get more opportunities to prove himself before the end of the campaign.

He played well alongside Gueye against Arsenal on 14 March, but like Mykolenko, he’s also shown a tendency for inconsistent performances, and that needs to change ASAP.

With Gueye out of contract and significant interest in James Garner, Everton’s central midfield could look very different from next season onwards.

Iroegbunam needs to take every chance he gets in the rest of this season if he’s to prove to Moyes and Hill Dickinson decision-makers that he’s capable of succeeding either one of those two.