At the end of June, Andriy Yarmolenko’s contract with the club ends, and manager David Moyes has taken the decision on behalf of West Ham to let go of the 32-year-old. The club has made it official that they do not wish to continue the winger’s agreement after it ends before the next window.
The Ukrainian made football news headline when he first joined the Hammers in 2018 from German giants Borussia Dortmund and had shown incredible potential in his ball control and shooting skills, having scored two goals out of nine appearances that season. Having been impressed by his performance, manager Manuel Pellegrini decided to play the winger in 23 matches the following season, where Yarmolenko netted five goals with 50% accuracy throughout the season, only to see his performance go downhill from then on.
Because the Ukraine international struggled with Moyes next season (2019-20), after the sacking of Pellegrini, Yarmolenko’s luck ran out as the forward struggled to get goals, having one assist and five goals ruled out by offsides that season.
He has made 19 appearances this season yet, and the 32-year-old Ukrainian winger has scored the deciding goal in extra time to launch his team up to the quarter-finals in the Europa League in the 112th minute, shocking the fans after his return from his leave for the Ukraine war situation.
Still, the fan-favourite Ukrainian forward has failed to further impress Moyes. He has been doing that in the second biggest payroll amongst the Hammers’ players. Moyes has yet to confirm the replacement for the winger, but Yarmolenko has confirmed on his social media handles that he is most certainly leaving this summer, thanking the club for the four years he spent in London. Adding that he gave his all in every match that he played and every goal that he scored and that he continues to believe in the team, and wish the club to achieve new victories and good luck.
According to sport.ua, several unnamed Turkish clubs are believed to be interested in him as well as clubs from the Middle East (i.e. Saudi Arabia and UAE), but the forward prefers to focus more on his national matches in the coming months because Yarmolenko also added that he’s waiting for a new challenge in his career, but right now all his forces and focus are on the most important Ukrainian national team games, including some make or break qualifying matches.
Following the bizarre situation between Russia and his country, the player has also donated a considerable amount of money to the armed forces of Ukraine to help defend his country against Russian Invaders. Needless to say, he, alongside his Ukrainian teammates, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Vitalii Mykolenko, have garnered a lot of support from the English football fans, which has fetched some much-needed moral support and commotion for their countrymen.
Yarmolenko is looking forward to representing his country in the upcoming world cup and preparing himself to join the Ukraine national team, to play against Scotland next (June 1) in the World Cup qualifiers.
