What The Papers Say - 9 June

The views on this page are taken from the local and national media and do not necessarily reflect the views of Everton.

The Liverpool ECHO focuses on Vitalii Mykolenko, who signed a new three-year Everton contract on Monday.

After penning his deal, the Ukrainian left-back – who joined the Blues in January 2022 – said: “Since the manager [David Moyes] came in, I think we are building up. He's a very good person, which is important for me and, as a manager, he gave me freedom on the pitch.

“It’s been a good journey for me so far and now I think we are taking steps in the right direction to get higher and higher in the table. Next season, we want to finish much higher.

“I like to have realistic dreams... winning a trophy or maybe a European trophy, as some other teams have done in the past few years. Individually, just to play every single game, and be consistent as Jimmy [Garner] was this season.

“That was a good example for me because of how brilliant and how consistent he’s been. I like that and want to achieve it, too.”

Elsewhere, England Women manager Sarina Wiegman says she’s “excited” for the Lionesses to be playing in a “football city” when Everton host England v Ukraine on Tuesday evening (8pm BST).

The match is the Lionesses’ final qualifier for the 2027 FIFA World Cup – and they’re hoping to extend their perfect qualifying home record to four wins in four matches.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” said Wiegman, quoted by the ECHO. “Going around the country is really nice, but playing in this new stadium, in Liverpool, which is a big city, a football city, yeah, I feel excited.

“I’m grateful that we can play here. We play in many very exciting stadiums and I think England has many exciting stadiums and arenas to play in, and we’re going around a little bit and I’m really enjoying that.”