Vitaliy Mykolenko
Ukrainian footballer (born 1999)
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Vitaliy Serhiyovych Mykolenko (Ukrainian: Віта́лій Сергі́йович Мико́ленко;[2] 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.
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Mykolenko in 2021 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Vitaliy Serhiyovych Mykolenko | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 29 May 1999 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Cherkasy, Ukraine | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Left-back | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Everton | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 16 | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2012–2017 | Dynamo Kyiv | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2017–2022 | Dynamo Kyiv | 88 | (5) | ||||||||||||||
| 2022– | Everton | 139 | (4) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2016 | Ukraine U17 | 6 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2016–2017 | Ukraine U18 | 3 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2017–2018 | Ukraine U19 | 16 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2018 | Ukraine U21 | 4 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2018– | Ukraine | 52 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 23:25, 25 April 2026 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 23:45, 26 March 2026 (UTC) | |||||||||||||||||
Club career
Dynamo Kyiv
Born in Cherkasy, Mykolenko is a product of the Dynamo Kyiv youth sportive school.[3]
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.[4] 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.[5][6]
Mykolenko was named the best young player in the 2018–19 Ukrainian Premier League season.[7]
Everton
On 1 January 2022, Mykolenko joined English side Everton on a four-and-a-half-year deal until June 2026 for an undisclosed fee.[8] The club assigned him the number 19 shirt.[9] 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.[10]
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.[11] 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.[12]
He marked his 100th appearance for the club (in the Premier League) in their league game of the 2024–25 season away to Brentford on 7 March 2025.[13]
International career
On 20 November 2018, Mykolenko debuted for the Ukraine national team at age 19 in a friendly match against Turkey, ending in a goalless draw.[14]
Still eligible for youth football, Mykolenko just missed out on winning the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup but 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.[15][16]
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.[17]
On 11 June 2022, he scored his first senior international goal in Ukraine's 3–0 victory over Armenia in the UEFA Nations League.[18]
In May 2024, Mykolenko was called up to represent Ukraine at UEFA Euro 2024[19].
Career statistics
Club
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Dynamo Kyiv | 2017–18 | Ukrainian Premier League | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2018–19 | Ukrainian Premier League | 23 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 8[c] | 1 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 1 | ||
| 2019–20 | Ukrainian Premier League | 23 | 3 | 4 | 0 | — | 8[d] | 1 | 1[e] | 0 | 36 | 4 | ||
| 2020–21 | Ukrainian Premier League | 22 | 2 | 3 | 0 | — | 11[f] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 2 | ||
| 2021–22 | Ukrainian Premier League | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 5[g] | 0 | 1[e] | 0 | 21 | 0 | ||
| Total | 88 | 5 | 10 | 0 | — | 32 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 132 | 7 | |||
| Everton | 2021–22 | Premier League | 13 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 16 | 1 | |||
| 2022–23 | Premier League | 34 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 36 | 0 | |||
| 2023–24 | Premier League | 28 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 34 | 2 | |||
| 2024–25 | Premier League | 35 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 37 | 1 | |||
| 2025–26 | Premier League | 29 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 32 | 0 | |||
| Total | 139 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | — | 155 | 4 | ||||
| Career total | 228 | 10 | 20 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 35 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 287 | 11 | ||
- Includes Ukrainian Cup, FA Cup
- Appearances in UEFA Europa League
- Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, six appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
- Appearance in Ukrainian Super Cup
- Seven appearances in UEFA Champions League, four appearances in UEFA Europa League
- Appearances in UEFA Champions League
International
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ukraine | 2018 | 1 | 0 |
| 2019 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 10 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 7 | 1 | |
| 2023 | 9 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 9 | 0 | |
| 2025 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2026 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 52 | 1 | |
- As of match played 26 March 2026. Ukraine score listed first, score column indicates score after each Mykolenko goal.[21][22]
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 June 2022 | Stadion Miejski ŁKS, Łódź, Poland | 25 |  Armenia | 3–0 | 3–0 | 2022–23 UEFA Nations League B |
Honours
Dynamo Kyiv
- Ukrainian Premier League: 2020–21
- Ukrainian Cup: 2019–20, 2020–21
- Ukrainian Super Cup: 2018, 2019, 2020
Individual
- Golden talent of Ukraine: 2018 (U-19), 2019 (U-21), 2020 (U-21)
- Ukrainian Premier League Best young player: 2018–19
- Everton Goal of the Season: 2021–22 (vs. Leicester City, 8 May 2022)[23]
