Is West Ham’s Andriy Yarmolenko in danger of being overhyped?

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West Ham United winger Andriy Yarmolenko may be in danger of being overhyped.

The Ukraine international was handed his first league start by Manuel Pellegrini against Everton last Sunday, and repaid his manager’s faith by scoring two goals.

Fans had been hoping to see him from the start after showing glimpses off the bench.

It was a decent performance from Yarmolenko, with Everton having struggled against West Ham as a collective.

It was pleasing for the Hammers faithful to see the summer signing score a brace.

That said though, the star is already in danger of being oversold.

‘He’s like Bale’

Sky Sports pundit Tony Cascarino has set the tone for the post-match adulation by likening the winger to Real Madrid superstar Gareth Bale.

Writing for The Times but quoted by the Daily Express, he said: “Yarmolenko is like Bale and Arjen Robben in the way that he wants to play on the right and cut in on to his left foot.

“As an opposing defender, you cannot allow him to do that or he will punish you more often than not.

“And it is also obvious that he will try to do it at every opportunity.”

The comparison, needless to say, is wide of the mark.

Both Bale and Robben have far more about them, in particular the former.

Don’t expect him to pull up trees

Yarmolenko may have scored two goals against Everton, one of which was a beauty, but he has a way to go yet before he’s worthy of rave reviews.

The 28-year-old had a very average campaign in the Bundesliga last year with Borussia Dortmund.

He’s actually played very little football over the last two terms and is not the same player as he was a few years ago.

His stellar showing against Everton is obviously deserving of praise.

But fans must wait for consistency before getting too carried away. The Premier League is arguably his toughest challenge so far.