West Ham United defender Issa Diop has admitted that the Hammers’ squad are big fans of Andriy Yarmolenko.
The Frenchman has been in awe of the Ukrainian international, who scored his third goal in as many games in the 2-2 draw against Bournemouth on Saturday.
Yarmolenko missed 32 games in the previous Premier League campaign after rupturing his Achilles tendon at the beginning of last season [Transfermarkt] and returned in pre-season for Manuel Pellegrini’s side.
Diop shared that the West Ham squad have been left drooling over the 29-year-old, who is back helping the team after his long-term injury lay-off.
“Everyone knows the quality of Yarmo,” he told the club’s official website.
“He had a long injury but now he is back 100 per cent and he helps the team a lot. We are big fans of him.”
OPINION
How could you not admire the way Yarmolenko is playing right now? The 29-year-old has been in incredible form in front of goal and has had a say in the Hammers’ last three results. The way he has returned from injury in pre-season has seen him act like a new signing for Pellegrini, who will no doubt be delighted with the impact he has been having. It can usually take players some time to return to their best after a long-term injury, but Yarmolenko has spearheaded the Hammers’ charge up the table which sees them sitting in the Champions League places early on. The former Borussia Dortmund man has averaged 1.8 shots and 1.3 key passes per game according to WhoScored, stats that place him in the top three of each department, further highlighting his attacking influence on the Hammers this season so far. Yarmolenko will be key to any hopes of West Ham finishing in the European qualification spots this season, and his teammates are clearly enjoying his start to the campaign which could be a deciding factor.
