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Liverpool Echo

Sport

Chris Beesley

Everton handed transfer challenge over forward who doesn't like to be compared with Neymar

Everton Mykhaylo Mudryk Darijo Srna Frank Lampard EPL Shakhtar UEFA Champions League Allan SaintMaximin Amadou Onana Dominic CalvertLewin

Given that Shakhtar Donetsk sporting director Darijo Srna has stated his club rejected a €30million offer from Everton for Mykhaylo Mudryk, just what might have attracted the Blues to the Ukrainian winger? Srna told CBS Sports : “We received an offer of €30million [from Everton] and when our president doesn’t sell a player for €30million, especially in such difficult times, he is sending a message to everyone that he wants to progress in the Champions League and to win the championship.

“Mudryk is a serious talent. After Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr, he’s the best player in Europe in his position. If someone wants to buy Mudryk they must spend a lot, a lot, a lot of money and respect our club and our president.”

That’s quite the claim but Mudryk, born in 2001 like existing Everton prospects Anthony Gordon, Amadou Onana, Nathan Patterson and their latest recruit James Garner, has started the new season in scintillating form on the big stage since the transfer window closed. He scored his first Champions League goal in Shakhtar’s 4-1 win at RB Leipzig on September 6 and followed that up with another strike in their 1-1 ‘home’ draw with Celtic in the competition on Wednesday, played in Warsaw’s Polish Army Stadium because of the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Those two goals doubled Mudryk’s career tally with the winger having netted twice for his club in 11 Ukrainian Premier League matches last term before the campaign had to be curtailed early because of the Russian invasion. Capped five times for his country so far, he’s a prodigious talent who 90 Min reports has been labelled ‘The Ukrainian Neymar’ due to his silky dribbling and love of using agility to beat defenders but apparently it’s not a nickname that the player himself is fond of, with him telling CBS Sports: “It’s not the Ukrainian Neymar, it’s the Ukrainian Modric – this sounds better. Modric is a top player and one of the best players of all time.”

So what of Mudryk himself? In terms of current Premier League players, it seems that there’s nobody quite like him. Comparisonator’s Similarity Comparison algorithm puts Manchester City’s Jack Grealish and Fulham’s Neeskens Kebano as the closest in the English top flight to his style but with a match of just 53% followed by Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha on 44%.

Applying Mudryk’s displays so far this season to Premier League players in his position through a Virtual Transfer though and it’s clear to see why he has caught the eye. He’s getting in more shots per 90 minutes (4.82) than any left wingers currently plying their trade in the division with Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli top on 3.18 followed by Ryan Sessegnon of Tottenham Hotspur on 2.97 and Allan Saint-Maximin of Newcastle United on 2.9.

Mudryk is also getting more shots on target (2.1), ahead of the same trio, Saint-Maximin (1.69); Sessegnon (1.65) and Martinelli (1.43) plus a great number of shot assists (2.41) where he leads Jack Harrison of Leeds United (2.39); Ivan Perisic of Tottenham Hotspur (1.81) and Phil Foden of Manchester City (1.8). He is also top of the shop for attacking actions (15.27) ahead of Zaha (12.72); Saint-Maximin (12.34) and Pedro Neto of Wolverhampton Wanderers (12.22) and successful attacking actions (6.83) where he’s above Saint-Maximin (6.53); Zaha (6.24) and Southampton’s Moussa Djenepo (5.87).

The Shakhtar man is also in the thick of things with more touches in the box (9.24) than Saint-Maximin (7.26); Liverpool’s Luis Diaz (7.23) and Martinelli (7.16) which helps ensures he is ranked higher for expected assists (0.81) than the Premier League’s leaders Saint-Maximin (0.66); Brentford’s Youane Wissa (0.63) and Everton’s own Demarai Gray (0.51). This is because not only is Mudryk making more key passes (3.62), ahead of Neto (2.49); Manchester United’s Christian Eriksen (2.34) and Harrison (2.02), there are more successful key passes too (2.01) which is more than Neto (1.5); Brighton & Hove Albion’s Pervis Estupinan (1.47) and West Ham United’s Said Benrahma (1.26).

Like the aforementioned Onana, who Everton snapped up under the noses of this weekend’s opponents West Ham United, Mudryk could have offered the club an exciting young star with the potential for a considerable resale value but having not landed his signature this summer, the fear now could be that they might have missed out on him for good. In a similar vein to Mohammed Kudus, who the Blues tried to bring to Goodison Park last month, the player has started the campaign in blistering form, both at domestic and Champions League level and both could now attract suitors that could offer them the prospect of continuing to play in the latter.

Mudryk was also on Brentford’s radar back in January but he told Sport Arena: “With all due respect, I will definitely not be moving to Brentford. They’re a mid-table Premier League side that doesn’t compete in European cups. For me, the most important thing is the Champions League.”

Other Premier League rivals such as Arsenal and Newcastle United have also been linked with a move for him but while they’re not in the Champions League either, the Gunners are at least in the Europa League and much closer to challenging at the top table than Frank Lampard’s side while the nouveau riche Magpies of course are bolstered by the huge wealth of their Saudi owners.

Comparisonator is a football data comparison tool from 271 professional leagues around the world which compares players and clubs by utilising over 100 different parameters. Click here for more details.

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