Andriy Yarmolenko Officially Moves to West Ham United

Borussia Dortmund and Andriy Yarmolenko have officially parted ways, as the Ukrainian winger signed for West Ham United on a permanent transfer.

According to several outlets, Yarmolenko leaves Dortmund for a transfer fee of €20 million to join the East London club.

Yarmolenko came to Borussia Dortmund in last summer as a seasoned replacement for Ousmane Dembélé, leaving his longtime club Dynamo Kiev for €25 million and a four-year contract. He started off well with eye-popping skill moves and a Champions League goal in his first start for the club, and before long he bagged four assists and a goal in his first month with the club. All looked well for Dortmund as it looked like everything was going to work out for the big Ukrainian signing.

Unfortunately, his fall from form happened right around the time of Dortmund’s collapse under Peter Bosz. Teams quickly found out that Yarmolenko has no right foot and isn’t the best decision maker under pressure aside from attempting to beat players with FIFA five-star skill moves, and his performances suffered. After starting off his Dortmund career with two goals and four assists, he only registered two goals and two assists total before he suffered a foot injury that kept him out for two months until he returned late in the brief Peter Stöger regime as a sub.

It’s a clear sign that with players like Reus, Philipp, Pulisic, Sancho, and Marius Wolf ahead of him on the depth chart, a one-dimensional, 29-year-old Yarmolenko probably wasn’t going to see the field much this season to justify whatever it is Dortmund are paying him under Lucien Favre. Furthermore, it’s a signal from Dortmund leadership that the last season was a colossal disaster and the more we move on from players who hindered the team rather than helped, the closer this team can come to truly challenging for a title.

Not every transfer can be a home run, and more often than not they just don’t work out; Not everyone can be a Manuel Akanji or a Marco Reus. He has amazing skills on the ball, but he also dawdles too long on the ball and can’t defend to save his life. But hey, if Manuel Pelligrini and West Ham want to drop €20 mill on a one-footed winger, who am I to stop them?