Yarmolenko turns down lucrative move to China

The Liverpool Echo is reporting that Ukrainian attacker Andriy Yarmolenko has rejected a possible €60 million move to an unnamed Chinese Super League club.

Everton have been pursuing the player for at least the last couple of transfer windows, with the latest period in January elapsing without a deal being agreed upon. The player's representatives were seen at Goodison Park multiple times, the last of which was the League Cup semifinal first leg win over Manchester City. Fellow Premier League club Arsenal were also rumored to have reached a deal with the player, but nothing came out of that either in the winter transfer window.

Yarmolenko's previous attempts at a move have been blocked by the club as they attempt to go deep in the Champions League, with Kiev playing against City this week. The player also signed a contract extension to ensure that Kiev wouldn't be left penniless should he move in the upcoming summer.

The forward also made some interesting comments to the Ukrainian press after the closing of the transfer window, saying he would prefer to play at Everton than at Barcelona.

"It is better to play at Everton.

"Of course you can go to Barcelona, make a cool selfie with (Lionel) Messi, put the images on Instagram and get a million likes and be pleased with yourself. But I'm not one of those.

"For me it is important to play matches. If I do not play twice a week, I have nowhere to throw out the emotions and energy. My family will go mad. If I play, the next day I am all calm and smile. If I missed the game and lay in the house, I immediately run into a quarrel."

Suffice to say, this long-running saga is far from over.