Rebuilding. For ageing pros, time ultimately laps at the heels of the slowing runners, the poor performers or simply the out-of-place. That's not meant to be mean, it's just the truth – especially in the cut-throat here today-gone next year nature of the Premier League.
Even when the dream of top-flight football winds down with an extensive career, positives can still come to fruition – that's something learned today, with this Ukrainian winger once revered in East London with West Ham United, who is now favoured back in his home country's Ukrainska Premier Liha following a stellar season in the UAE.
Why did West Ham sign Andriy Yarmolenko?
Rewind to the 2017/18 season and Andriy Yarmolenko has totted up a marvellous Dynamo Kyiv career. 11 seasons in Ukraine's capital has brought about some staggering numbers whilst consistently being rumoured a move away.
In 336 games in all competitions, Yarmolenko scored a whopping 136 goals and registered 89 assists. He was performing on the international stage too, and by this point had performed at Euro 2012 and 2016.
As one of his country's most gifted players, it's no wonder that clubs on the continent came sniffing around the 27-year-old winger – and eventually Yarmolenko signed for Borussia Dortmund for €25m (£22m) on a four-year-deal in August 2017.
Despite time at Dortmund beginning strongly with his first goal on his first start against Tottenham in the Champions League, Yarmolenko didn't seem to fit in at the Signal Iduna Park and only mustered 18 Bundesliga appearances that term under Peter Bosz.
That said, he still managed three goals and five assists – showing glimpses of why BVB had signed him. Solace came at West Ham, who picked the winger up for £17.5m in July 2018 with a four-year-contract.
What went wrong for Andriy Yarmolenko at West Ham?
Where things had hoped to be better in east London, Yarmolenko instantly suffered a rocky start. Just two months into his stint under David Moyes, the Ukrainian ruptured his Achilles against Tottenham.
He was ruled out for six months and was absent for 222 days. Then, on his eventual return in August 2019, he reacted positively with his first goal for the club in a 2-0 win over Norwich City.
In September's next home game, he scored again – however, injury reared its ugly head again for Yarmolenko. A torn Abductor muscle saw him sidelined from December until March 2020. It just seemed he couldn't catch a break.
Despite injury, (he'd again suffer with COVID-19 and then a torn knee ligament) Yarmolenko did manage 20 goal involvements – 13 goals, seven assists – in 86 all-competition games for the Hammers. Some of these strikes were important too, like the winning goal against Chelsea in July 2020 which effectively kept West Ham up for instance.
However, with West Ham in transition – the 32-year-old exited for free and signed for UAE club Al-Ain in July 2022.
Although blighted by injury and the heartache of Ukraine's political turmoil – Yarmolenko's West Ham career still sits fondly within Irons' hearts. An emotional farewell was blunt and well-received on the player's social media.
Where is Andriy Yarmolenko now?
Yarmolenko's lucrative move to the Middle East was only a season long, as he is now back at Dynamo Kyiv.
However, while in the UAE, Yarmolenko notably put in some solid shifts in what many deem yet another moneyed retirement league in world football. The Ukrainian even outperformed Jarrod Bowen's numbers last term.
Where Bowen reached an impressive 13 goals across 53 all-competition games, with an exciting trophy winning five goals in 11 Conference League matches – Yarmolenko trumped him in league goals.
Granted, it is the UAE first division, but the Ukranian forward showed he still had something to give in his cameo one-term at Al-Ain. He scored 11 league goals and got six assists in 23 games – certainly a better rate of goal involvement than Bowen.
Indeed, tn the Premier League, Bowen only scored six and got six assists in 38 games. It's funny how football can work out, isn't it?
