Ivan Varfolomeev Progress Assessed: What Is Everyone Saying?

On August 21st, City dropped some exciting news – a 21-year-old midfielder by the name of Ivan Varfolomeev was to become the club’s record signing.

I’d heard a bit of a buzz before, just mutters of ‘there is a Ukrainian we really like’, but nothing solid. It felt like the Scandinavian we identified a few years ago (who, by the way, had 18 goal involvements for his current top-flight European club this season). It felt like we were setting our sights high and like a lot of targets, it wouldn’t pan out.

That’s not to say we fail, but we are always looking at players who are just out of our reach, and the job of Jez and the recruitment team is to get them within reach. Sometimes, like with James Collins and Josh Honohan, it works, and other times, like with Trai Hume, it doesn’t. That’s football, and I thought whoever the mystery player was, I’d just have to wait.

The fee that eventually brought him to us was thought to be around £350,000, but those who expected an immediate impact have been forced to wait. He was kept out of the side by Tom Bayliss and Conor McGrandles, and he’s had to be patient.

The opportunity arrived over Christmas. He had starts – Exeter in the league, but Tom Bayliss’s injury at Stockport saw him come on, and since then, he’s seized his chance.

That’s something noted by the NTT20 podcast, who used Ivan as an example of why we’ve remained contenders over Christmas.

“They spent big on a young Ukrainian midfielder called Ivan Varfolomeev in the summer,” said Ali Maxwell in this week’s episode. “Boy, have they bedded him in slowly. He barely started a game in the first part of the season. But it’s time. When you spend big on someone like that, you need to eventually throw them in at the deep end.

“He started the last three games and the team’s form hasn’t dipped as a result. So that’s really exciting. A 21-year-old that they spent possibly even a club record fee, has finally broken into the team and hopefully can stay there.”

He has certainly stayed there over Christmas, getting 90 minutes against Barnsley and Huddersfield, before being brought off on 74 against Peterborough. That took his League One total to 539, meaning 57% of his minutes took place after Christmas Day.

That’s a busy schedule, a huge uplift, and one that really did give him a chance to stake a claim. He hasn’t disappointed, and post-Huddersfield, Michael Skubala paid tribute to not only his quality but also the guidance of the professionals around him.

“Ivan, that’s a big game for him and everyone saw his quality again. He’s getting used to going again, which is great.

“He’s got a great shot in him. Everyone saw that today. His deliveries for set pieces are good. His positioning is getting better all the time. He’s learning the game and who better than Conor McGrandles next to you and Sonny Bradley behind you talking to you.

“He’s really growing into that role which is good.”

With 3.84 interceptions per 90, 54.8% duel success and 9.52 recoveries per game, Ivan is beginning to look like a class League One player. His passing has hit 73% accuracy, around the club average, and his positioning, which you can’t put a number on, has been great. I’d love to see his running stats, because he appears to have got right up to speed in terms of the intensity.

Of course, we’ve had to wait to get glimpses of what he can do, but in his interview yesterday, Jez George covered exactly how that is going, also referring to the leaders he has around him.

“This is about patience. He’s 21, new country, different football, limited minutes. We’ve been patient and he’s been outstanding.

“His mentality, physicality, and quality are exactly what we expected. He’s earned his opportunity through his attitude and work, and the coaching detail behind him has been huge.

“His English is improving, he has lessons, and communication has improved. To play close to three 90-minute games in a short period after limited football is massive credit to him.

“He’s exciting, but we also rely heavily on experienced leaders who set standards every day.”

While the club rhetoric can be measured, urging caution, our own assessment has been a little more passionate. As fans, we are able to get carried away a little, and in our post-Huddersfield podcast, Chris had this to say about Ivan’s performance.

“He was everywhere. He was absolutely everywhere. He’s obviously been given the responsibility for set-piece deliveries, and they’re good. He’s clearly got a shot on him, which we saw in the first half, which is great. I thought he was safe in possession a lot of the time.

“I thought he won the ball back really smartly. I also like that when he looked like he was going to lose, he was going to lose possession through a tackle, he just had a real strength in that in his challenge, and he came out on the right side of those 50/50s as well.”

Recruitment is difficult, especially when you’re a club like us that has to be more prudent with its funds. While people splash out money on players from the UK, we’re looking for more bang for our buck. Even so, a Ukrainian Under 21 playing in Czechia was probably not top of our expected signings list, but the early signs are good.

It’s always risky to spend a club record fee, and that wasn’t hyped when he arrived. That may or may not have been surpassed with Josh Honohan coming in, but for two players who are not right at the sharp end of the pitch, these were bold moves.

Ivan, we have seen evidence, and his application is just so Lincoln City 2025/26. He’s tireless, works hard, is perhaps a little understated, not flamboyant but functional. Functional in a way that adds to this team that, as we keep saying, is greater than the sum of its parts. Look, spending £350,000 on a player does show we’re not small fish; we’re just smaller than many in the pond.

Dare I say, on the early evidence, we might have caught ourselves one that many of those bigger clubs will covet, now and certainly in the future.