West Ham United have been offered the prospect to deliver Mykola Matviyenko to the Premier League within the January switch window.
What’s the discuss?
That’s in accordance with a latest report by 90min, who declare that Shakhtar Donetsk have offered David Moyes the chance to signal the centre-back for a determine within the area of €25m (£22m), with each Brentford and Leicester City additionally believed to have been contacted by the Premier Liga aspect relating to a possible deal for the 26-year-old.
However, an additional report by the Daily Mail would seem to recommend that it’s Brighton & Hove Albion who’re at present main the race for the Ukraine worldwide, with the Seagulls mentioned to have submitted a £14m bid for the defender.
“World-class”
Considering simply how spectacular Matviyenko has been for Shakhtar to date this season, the argument that Moyes merely should do all he can to beat Brighton, Brentford and Leicester to the centre-back’s signing this winter is an especially straightforward one to make.
Indeed, over his six appearances within the Champions League this time period, the £10m-rated expertise was actually world-class within the coronary heart of the Shakhtar backline, making a median of 1.7 tackles, 1.5 interceptions, 5.5 clearances and successful 3.0 duels – at a hit price of 67% – per recreation.
The defender additionally impressed in possession of the ball, having fun with a median of 86.8 touches, enjoying 3.2 lengthy balls, making 3.7 chipped passes and finishing 65.5 complete passes – at a hit price of 89% – per match.
These returns noticed the 26-year-old common an especially spectacular Sofascore statistical score of 6.90, rating him as Shakhtar’s fifth-best performer in Europe’s most prestigious membership competitors – a fairly exceptional feat contemplating the Premier Liga aspect have been in a gaggle alongside Real Madrid, RB Leipzig and Celtic.
Aside from these eye-catching metrics, Andrew Todos – a British-Ukrainian sports activities journalist – additionally revealed in a latest interview with Sussex Live that Matviyenko is able to working in both a again 4 or a again three, stating:
“Matviyenko is a composed and skilled centre-back, who comes throughout as very assured, particularly when enjoying alongside youthful teammates. As he began his profession as a full-back, he’s obtained extra tempo than a median centre-back and this aids him quite a bit in restoration challenges.
“He hardly ever goes in for wild tackles which may lead to bookings or penalties and one among his foremost strengths is obstructing crosses or goalbound pictures. He’s additionally excellent at enjoying balls excessive, enjoying out from the again, and he’s versatile.
“In my opinion, he can be world-class when he plays in a formation with three defenders. If he plays in a back four, he should play alongside a tall defender who can help him. He is good as a centre-back but the best matches of his career were when he was in a back three and he played next to wing-backs.”
As such, with Matviyenko very a lot showing to be a participant who would go well with Moyes’ tactical set-up on the London Stadium right down to the bottom, coupled with the participant who Todos additionally claimed is “ripe for a move to a top league” being out there for an especially inexpensive £22m, it might certainly seem an especially smart transfer for the Hammers to launch a bid for the doubtless world-class centre-back.