New West Ham United signing Andriy Yarmolenko cannot wait to begin working under manager Manuel Pellegrini at the Hammers.
Having joined the Irons earlier this summer, Pellegrini and director of football Mario Husillos have been busy preparing West Ham for the new season, with Yarmolenko the fifth new player added to the squad since the Chilean’s appointment.
The forward knows his new manager’s history and is excited to work with a coach who has managed a host of Europe’s top teams.
I have spoken to Manuel Pellegrini...he has coached some great clubs across Europe as well, so I am very interested to begin working with him.
Andriy Yarmolenko
“I have spoken to Manuel Pellegrini. We had a short discussion about how he sees us playing and how he wants to use me on the football pitch,” Yarmolenko told West Ham TV.
“He comes across like a very kind and good person to me. Of course, he has coached some great clubs across Europe as well, so I am very interested to begin working with him.”
With the Irons already adding Ryan Fredericks, Club record signing issa Diop, experienced Premier League goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, and Jack Wilshere from Arsenal to the squad, Yarmolenko can see that West Ham is intent on building a team capable of competing.
The 28-year-old continued: “I know I am the fifth player to arrive at West Ham this summer. I can see that an interesting project is being built here and that the team has very high aims that they want to achieve.
“That is why I accepted this challenge. It will be interesting for me to take part in the future of this club.”
Yarmolenko earned a move to Dynamo Kyiv in 2007, spending a decade with the Ukraine Premier League team, and the forward has hailed his time in Kyiv for shaping his career.
“I spent ten years with Dynamo Kyiv and they were very good times. At the start, I was trying to prove to the coaches on the pitch that I was better than the other players. Only through my hard work during my time there have I become the player I am now.”
