Vitaliy Mykolenko

Vitaliy Serhiyovych Mykolenko (Віталій Сергійович Миколенко; born 29 May 1999) is a Ukrainian professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Premier League club Everton and the Ukraine national team.

Born in Cherkasy, Mykolenko is a product of the Dynamo Kyiv youth sportive school.

He played for Dynamo in the Ukrainian Premier League Reserves and in August 2017 he was promoted to the senior squad team.

Mykolenko made his debut in the Ukrainian Premier League for Dynamo Kyiv on 20 August 2017, playing in a winning match against Stal Kamianske.

On 25 October 2018, Mykolenko made his debut in the UEFA Europa League, starting in Dynamo's 2–1 victory over Rennes at the Roazhon Park.

Mykolenko was named the best young player in the 2018–19 Ukrainian Premier League season.

On 1 January 2022, Mykolenko joined English side Everton on a four-and-half year deal until June 2026 for an undisclosed fee.

The club assigned him the number 19 shirt.

On 3 March 2022, as a gesture of goodwill, Mykolenko was named Everton captain for an FA Cup Fifth round match against Boreham Wood due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine between his country and Russia.

In March, Mykolenko called out the captain of the Russia national team, Artem Dzyuba, in an Instagram post and questioned why Dzyuba and his Russian teammates were "silent" while "peaceful civilians were being killed in Ukraine" in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

On 8 May, Mykolenko scored his first goal for Everton, a stunning volley from 25 yards in a 2–1 away victory against Leicester City in a Premier League fixture.

Mykolenko represented Ukraine at all levels of youth football.

He made his debut for the Ukraine national team at age 19, on 20 November 2018 in a friendly against Turkey, as a starter.

Still eligible for youth football, Mykolenko just missed out on winning the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup – he was named to the eventual winner Ukraine squad for the tournament, but had to be withdrawn from the competition a few days later due to injury.

Mykolenko was a member of Ukraine's squad for UEFA Euro 2020 and started four of the team's five matches as they reached the quarter-finals.

On 11 June 2022, Mykolenko scored his first senior international goal in Ukraine's 3–0 win over Armenia in the UEFA Nations League.

Dynamo Kyiv

Individual