Andrei Kanchelskis has admitted he tried to convince Everton to sign Andriy Yarmolenko before he joined Premier League rivals West Ham United, speaking to FanDay.
It’s easy to forget, with Yarmolenko wasting away from the West Ham bench, that as recently as 2018 his arrival was seen as a real coup for a club who, with all due respect, cannot really be considered one of the top-flight’s genuine big-hitters.
Yarmolenko arrived at the London Stadium in a £17 million move from Borussia Dortmund.
And though his time in Germany didn’t exactly go to plan, the silky Ukraine international had produced enough match-winning performances for Dynamo Kiev to suggest that he’d be worth every single penny of that hefty price-tag.
Things haven’t really worked out for Yarmolenko in England either, however.
A series of injury problems, plus the emergence of Jarrod ‘the Herefordshire Robben’ Bowen, have seen the 32-year-old slip ever further down David Moyes’ pecking order.
But Kanchelskis thinks that, just because Yarmolenko has struggled for form and fitness at West Ham, there’s no reason to believe he could not have blossomed on Merseyside.
Why did Andriy Yarmolenko join West Ham and not Everton?
“In 2014 or 2015, I came to Kiev and tried to persuade Yarmolenko to move to Everton,” says the ex-Toffees winger.
“I’m sure if he switched then, his career would have developed differently. Yarmolenko looked great at Dynamo.
“Everton asked me to contact Andriy and his agent. I came to Kiev for a couple of days, we met after training and we talked. Andriy had a desire to leave but the clubs did not agree on the transfer fee.
“In my opinion, Everton offered (a fee) in the region of £15 to 18 million pounds. Dynamo wanted £20 million.
“The price was good and I don’t understand why Dynamo didn’t agree to the transfer.”
With his contract expiring next summer, Yarmolenko appears to be entering his final few months as a West Ham player.
His agent has already admitted that there is a ‘lot of interest’ in the 106-cap veteran.
Genoa, however, recently ruled out a move that would see Yarmolenko reunite with former Ukraine boss Andriy Shevchenko in Italy.
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