West Ham winger Andriy Yarmolenko back in training amid Ukraine crisis
David Moyes has confirmed that West Ham winger Andriy Yarmolenko is back in training amid the ongoing Ukraine crisis.
The Ukrainian international missed Sunday’s (February 27) 1-0 win over Wolves because of the conflict between his home country and Russia.
The 32-year-old still has family and friends living in his home country and Moyes was adamant in not rushing the forward back into action because of that.
Moyes told West Ham: “He did a bit of light training yesterday. I had a good chat with him.
“He’s really upset with the whole situation, which many people are, so we won’t rush him. I’ve asked him to come in today so we’ll see how he feels. If he’s fine, he’ll travel with the team. If he’s not, we’ll give him some more days off.
“It’s a daily ongoing thing. We’ll give him the chance to go with his own feelings.
“He’s got family members in Ukraine, and friends, and he’s worried for everybody. He realises the difficulty that’s going on and he’s a long way away and can’t do a lot about it. He’s upset, and quite rightly so.”
Get well soon
Sometimes there are much more important things going on in the world than football.
Many of us would find it hard to imagine what Yarmolenko is going through right now, still having loved ones in his war-torn home country so he can have as much time as he needs.
It is a really positive sign though that he is back in training. Hopefully he can use football as somewhat of a distraction to take his mind off the horrible situation he and many others find themselves in.
Huge credit needs to be given to the club as well. There are times when the money machine that is football doesn’t exactly understand the extent to which everyday life problems and the financial side of things take over, but the club have responded excellently.
There is no rush for him to return and he can take his time to clear his thoughts if and when needed.
Hopefully he is ready enough to feature against Southampton in the FA Cup depending on how strong Moyes goes.
In other West Ham news, a timeframe has been mooted for Angelo Ogbonna’s return.
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