Everton star Vitaliy Mykolenko has praised one of his teammates for being the best in the Premier League at what he does – a huge compliment heading into a particularly busy part of the season.
The Toffees have been in fine form this season under David Moyes, winning three of their past four Premier League games to move into the top half of the table.
A number of players have all worked hard together to get to that point, with Everton gunning for a top half finish for the first time since the 2020-21 season.
And Vitaliy Mykolenko believes that teammate Iliman Ndiaye has been the best in the division for his first touch and dribbling in his best individual campaign to date.
Everton star Iliman Ndiaye.
Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images
Vitaliy Mykolenko thinks Iliman Ndiaye is the best in the class at dribbling
Speaking ahead of Everton’s clash with Nottingham Forest at the weekend, Mykolenko waxed lyrical over the former Marseille star, believing that he even enjoys Ndiaye getting one over him in training.
Mykolenko said: “To be honest, I only played for Dynamo, the Ukrainian national team and Everton.
“But I played against players in the Premier League and I haven’t seen such a technical person, with such a first touch and dribbling as Iliman.
Is Iliman Ndiaye Everton’s best player?
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“He’s just a top footballer, a top person.
“Honestly, I get a kick out of it even when he beats me, because sometimes it just happens that he just gets around like [with] a chip in training.
“I hope he’ll only get better.”
There is no doubting that Ndiaye has been a superb signing for Everton and with Mykolenko facing him every day in training, there’s no player who knows his credentials better.
Everton will massively miss Iliman Ndiaye over the winter period
Whilst Iliman Ndiaye has been one of Everton’s best players this season, the Toffees will have to go without him during a particularly testing period over the festive fixture list.
The Senegal international will be playing at the Africa Cup of Nations from Monday, December 15 – and should Senegal progress all the way to the final on January 18, it could see Ndiaye miss eight games of Premier League football.
Iliman Ndiaye vs Anthony Gordon stat comparison speaks volumes📈
Anthony Gordon vs Iliman Ndiaye stats
Anthony Gordon vs Iliman Ndiaye stats
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Tyler Dibling has been utilised on that right-hand side in the past, but the youngster hasn’t had much game time and as a result, Dwight McNeil or even Carlos Alcaraz could be used out wide.
Ndiaye’s mazy dribbling has been praised by teammates and opponents alike, and David Moyes will have to find a way to bypass that over the coming month.
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