Everton secured yet another Premier League win over the weekend, prevailing 2-0 against Ipswich Town, which moves them further away from the relegation places.
Several players have stepped up in recent weeks to drag the club up the table. Iliman Ndiaye has been in great form, scoring twice in the Premier League along with creating one big chance and succeeding with two dribbles per game. The forward is emerging as one of Sean Dyche’s most important players this season.
It is Dwight McNeil who is impressing the most, however. The Englishman has registered six goal contributions in the top flight so far this term – three goals and three assists – which is proof that he has now firmly established himself as someone the manager can trust to get Everton out of trouble.
Dwight McNeil’s season in numbers
Since joining the Goodison Park side ahead of the 2022/23 campaign, McNeil scored ten goals across his first two seasons at the club, with just three coming in the entirety of last term.
This means he has already surpassed his tally after just ten matches in 2024/25, bagging three league goals and one in the EFL Cup.
There is no doubt that if he maintains his current form, he can score more than eight goals during a single season for the first time in his career.
Goals
3
Assists
3
Key passes per game
3.1
Big chances created
7
Successful dribbles per game
1.3
Total shots per game
1.9
Not content with just scoring or assisting, McNeil has also created seven big chances in the Premier League this season, along with averaging 3.1 key passes per game, succeeding with 1.3 dribbles per game and recovering 4.5 balls per match, indicating how excellent he has been in several other performance metrics.
The downside to these performances is that there could soon be interest in the player from other clubs, although Dyche would be within his rights to hold out for the best possible price for the 24-year-old should he be forced to sell in the near future.
McNeil cost Everton £20m back in 2022, but they stand to make a solid profit on him when the time comes for the forward to depart Merseyside. That’s for sure.
According to Transfermarkt, the Englishman is currently valued at just £18m, which is a couple of million pounds less than his transfer fee.
Over the next few months, however, this market value will increase rapidly, taking into account his performances for the Toffees since the start of the campaign.
Within the club, he is currently the third most valuable player. Jarrad Branthwaite occupies the number one slot when it comes to valuations at Everton, yet it is a surprising name who is currently second on the list – Vitaliy Mykolenko.
The defender has seen his value increase in recent months, ranking him above players such as McNeil, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Iliman Ndiaye.
Vitaliy Mykolenko’s Everton statistics
The Ukrainian has been at Everton since January 2022 having been signed by Rafa Benitez following his impressive showings at club level for Dynamo Kyiv, while he was also a key part of the Ukraine side which reached the quarter-finals of Euro 2020.
Overall, the Spaniard spent around £17m on bringing the left-back to Goodison Park as he sought to improve his ailing side, who were closer to the relegation places than the top half of the table.
It didn’t take long for Benitez to be sacked and replaced by Frank Lampard. Mykolenko played 13 times for the club as they avoided relegation by the skin of their teeth.
Market Movers
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The 2022/23 campaign saw the defender miss just four Premier League matches, firmly establishing himself as the first-choice left-back under both Lampard and then Dyche, who took over with just a few months of the season left.
Last term saw the Ukrainian come into his own. Across 28 league appearances, he found the back of the net twice while shining defensively when compared to his peers in Europe’s top five leagues.
Indeed, he ranked in the top 4% of full-backs for clearances (3.59), the top 12% for interceptions (1.32) and the top 26% for aerial duels won (1.18) per 90 across the previous 365 days, indicating that he is extremely reliable defensively.
Mykolenko also won 4.5 ground duels per game – a success rate of 57% – and made 2.5 tackles per match as the Toffees avoided relegation once again.
So far this term, the left-back has played seven matches in all competitions, losing possession just 7.8 times a game on average, while winning over 55% of his total duels.
Hailed as “incredible” by his former manager Lampard, Mykolenko has gone from strength to strength since making the move from Ukraine to England nearly three years ago.
Taking this all into account, perhaps it isn’t a surprise to see his market value soar.
Vitaliy Mykolenko's transfer value in 2024
Branthwaite is currently the most valuable player in the Everton squad according to Transfermarkt as he is now worth £35m, but Mykolenko is not far off.
Indeed, the Ukrainian is currently worth £23m and there is no doubt that this will continue to rise over the coming months.
The 25-year-old has a firm grasp on the left-back slot at Everton just now, with Dyche placing full trust in the player to consistently deliver solid performances.
Like McNeil, if his performances remain at their current high standard, there could be some interest shown in him either in January or next summer.
With less than two years remaining on his current contract, Dyche will surely be looking to fend away any suitors by giving the defender a well-deserved extension in the next few months.
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