Everton left back Vitalii Mykolenko suffered an injury in the final preseason match against Roma and missed the first two matches of the season before returning to play 87 minutes against Mansfield Town in the Carabao Cup on August 27.
Three days later, Mykolenko started and played the full 90 against Wolves in a 3-2 win for Everton, which suggested he was fit enough to report for national team duty during the international break.
However, reports are indicating that the left back is returning to Merseyside after an MRI revealed an injury that is assumed to have been suffered during the Wolves match, although there is no indication as to whether or not it is the same injury that kept him out of the lineup to start the season for the club.
Everton have yet to confirm that Mykolenko is returning to Liverpool for treatment, but the link above clearly shows the player getting into a car with the Ukrainian team bus in the background. Given the circumstances, there's no reason to believe that Mykolenko is indeed leaving the squad for this run of fixtures.
This is bad news for Ukraine, who will reportedly replace Mykolenko with Dynamo Kiev's Vladyslav Dubinchak, but also not necessarily a good look for Everton, depending on whether they knew the player had either suffered a new injury or reaggravated the previous one.
One particular source has been quick to blame Everton for the player's departure. His name is Dmytro Babelyuk, a sports doctor from Ukraine, who immediately took to social media to blame the Toffees' medical team for Mykolenko having to leave the national team camp.
The doctor doesn't hold back, making it a problem that Everton caused right from the get-go. His blame includes not one, but two posts:
Shocking unprofessionalism from @Everton 😡which is unbelievable to witness in 2025, in the Premier League.
— Dmytro Babelyuk 🇺🇦 (@DimaBabelyuk) September 3, 2025
Now Mykolenko faces a longer rehab — but does anyone at the club even care?
(2/2)#mykolenko #everton #PremierLeague #injury pic.twitter.com/QrGJRKebU6
Is it possible that Everton knew about the injury and sent him out on international duty anyway? It seems rather unlikely considering that such a move required Mykolenko to travel, get the MRI, and will now add additional travel to his body as well. It would have made more sense for Everton to keep him Liverpool if the club knew about the injury.
The first accusation about rushing him back may have more of a leg to stand on, as it did seem, from an outside observer, that the left back was back into a full workload rather quickly, but to suggest that the club don't care about the health of one of its key players seems incorrect.
Everton needs a healthy Vitalii Mykolenko this season as they get Adam Aznou up to speed. They certainly don't want to insert James Garner at left back again if there's no need to do so.
In that regard, suggesting Everton don't care feels foolish, even if this isn't a great look for the club. But sometimes injuries happen, and there's nobody to blame, even if people want to find someone.