West Ham summer signing Andriy Yarmolenko has challenged a pundit in his native Ukraine to a fight after taking umbrage with criticism of his performance against Brighton last week.
Yarmolenko had appeared to be finding his feet at the club in recent weeks after arriving from Borussia Dortmund in the summer. He scored twice in the win over Everton that gave West Ham their first points of the season, before another good performance against Manchester United two weeks later.
However, the 28-year-old had a poor game at the Amex Stadium on Friday, giving the ball away in the build-up to Glenn Murray's winning goal. He was taken off after 70 minutes and replaced by Lucas Perez.
Ukrainian commentator Wladimir Kobelkov was critical of Yarmolenko's display but the Hammers winger bit back with what appears to be an actual invitation to a brawl.
"In my youth, I fought a lot. There was wins and there were losses. It’s normal for a boy, for a man," Yarmolenko told Xsport.
"I want to announce my next fight. I don’t want to listen to that Kobelkov any longer. I want to call him out for a fight and get my revenge on all those things he’s said on air. I’m waiting for an answer."
Yarmolenko has returned to his home country for the international break, during which Ukraine face Italy in a friendly before taking on the Czech Republic in the UEFA Nations League.
Only Andriy Shevchenko has scored more times for Ukraine than Yarmolenko, who has 36 goals in 78 caps.
Source : 90min