West Ham United have been offered the chance to bring Mykola Matviyenko to the Premier League in the January transfer window.
What’s the talk?
That’s according to a recent report by 90min, who claim that Shakhtar Donetsk have offered David Moyes the opportunity to sign the centre-back for a figure in the region of €25m (£22m), with both Brentford and Leicester City also believed to have been contacted by the Premier Liga side regarding a potential deal for the 26-year-old.
However, a further report by the Daily Mail would appear to suggest that it is Brighton & Hove Albion who are currently leading the race for the Ukraine international, with the Seagulls said to have submitted a £14m bid for the defender.
“World-class”
Considering just how impressive Matviyenko has been for Shakhtar so far this season, the argument that Moyes simply must do all he can to beat Brighton, Brentford and Leicester to the centre-back’s signing this winter is an extremely easy one to make.
Indeed, over his six appearances in the Champions League this term, the £10m-rated talent was truly world-class in the heart of the Shakhtar backline, making an average of 1.7 tackles, 1.5 interceptions, 5.5 clearances and winning 3.0 duels – at a success rate of 67% – per game.
The defender also impressed in possession of the ball, enjoying an average of 86.8 touches, playing 3.2 long balls, making 3.7 chipped passes and completing 65.5 total passes – at a success rate of 89% – per match.
These returns saw the 26-year-old average an extremely impressive Sofascore statistical rating of 6.90, ranking him as Shakhtar’s fifth-best performer in Europe’s most prestigious club competition – a rather remarkable feat considering the Premier Liga side were in a group alongside Real Madrid, RB Leipzig and Celtic.
Aside from these eye-catching metrics, Andrew Todos – a British-Ukrainian sports journalist – also revealed in a recent interview with Sussex Live that Matviyenko is capable of operating in either a back four or a back three, stating:
“Matviyenko is a composed and experienced centre-back, who comes across as very assured, especially when playing alongside younger teammates. As he started his career as a full-back, he’s got more pace than an average centre-back and this aids him quite a lot in recovery challenges.
“He rarely goes in for wild tackles that might result in bookings or penalties and one of his main strengths is blocking crosses or goalbound shots. He’s also very good at playing balls over the top, playing out from the back, 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 much appearing to be a player who would suit Moyes’ tactical set-up at the London Stadium down to the ground, coupled with the player who Todos also claimed is “ripe for a move to a top league” being available for an extremely affordable £22m, it would indeed appear an extremely wise move for the Hammers to launch a bid for the potentially world-class centre-back.
