Arsenal and Chelsea Eye Adam Guram: Europe's Next Ukrainian Talent

From Everton’s left flank to Brentford’s high-energy midfield, Vitalii Mykolenko and Yehor Yarmolyuk have already proved that Ukrainian talent can thrive in the Premier League. Now, another name from the same agency is starting to echo around some of England’s biggest recruitment meetings.

Adam Guram. Seventeen years old. An attacking midfielder at Hajduk Split, and already on the radar of Arsenal and Chelsea.

He has not completed a full senior season yet. He is still learning the rhythms of top-flight football, still adjusting to the physicality and speed. Yet his agent, Vadym Shablii, knows exactly why Europe’s elite are paying attention.

Clubs, he says, see pure potential. Guram’s game understanding is advanced for his age, his technique sharp, his attitude clean and hungry. He wants to work. He wants to improve. That combination, in modern scouting departments, rings every alarm in a good way.

Shablii is quick to add a note of restraint. Guram has “a lot to go through and a lot to learn.” The key, in his eyes, is not to chase the badge too quickly, but to build the player step by step. No shortcuts, no hype-driven detours.

Guiding a teenager through the storm

At 17, the pitch is only half the battle.

A first professional contract. Interest from superclubs. Agents, cameras, headlines. For a teenager, it can all arrive at once and with a weight that can crush a career before it starts.

Shablii’s role, he explains, goes far beyond negotiating clauses and bonuses. With players like Guram, he becomes part mentor, part shield. He helps them handle situations they have never faced before, from media glare to the lure of big-money offers. Trust is the currency. Honest, sometimes uncomfortable advice is the product.

The aim is simple: keep the player’s long-term development at the centre of every decision. Not the size of the fee. Not the noise around the move. The trajectory of the career.

That approach becomes even more important when a “big transfer” looms for a teenager. A move to a giant club at 17 can change everything: new country, new language, new expectations, and a level of scrutiny that does not forgive slow starts.

Shablii calls such a move “a serious step”. The club’s name matters, of course, but so do the minutes on the pitch, the coach’s faith, the pathway from talent to regular starter. A glamorous crest on the shirt means little if the player disappears into the shadows of a bloated squad.

Guram’s early breakthrough at Hajduk Split offers one encouraging sign. A first-team debut at 17, Shablii points out, says plenty about the teenager’s mental readiness to compete with grown professionals.

Academy badge or first-team battle?

Every wonderkid faces the same fork in the road: leap straight into the academy of a European superclub, or stay where the first team door is already open?

For Shablii, there is no universal formula. Personality, character, and context dictate the right move.

He points to Yarmolyuk as a case study. Before forcing his way into Brentford’s first team, the midfielder spent a season with Brentford B, the club’s unconventional bridge between youth football and the Premier League. There, he tested himself in physically demanding friendlies against senior sides, learned the English game, and adjusted off the pitch.

For some, a top academy’s facilities, coaching, and internal competition provide the perfect platform. For others, the priority must be regular senior minutes, the weekly grind of real matches with real stakes.

Shablii’s bottom line is clear: the environment must allow a young player to play often and keep growing. The badge is secondary. The pathway is everything.

Responsibility without panic

With so many moving parts, the pressure does not sit only on the teenager’s shoulders. Agents, too, live with the consequences of every decision.

Shablii describes it not as pressure, but as responsibility. He and his team gather information, study every angle, and then sit down with the player and his family. The final call is shared, not imposed. Careers can pivot on these moments; he treats them accordingly.

Chelsea provide a modern twist in this landscape. The London club have become known for extremely long contracts, sometimes stretching to eight years, especially for young signings. On paper, that is a dream for a teenager: security, status, and a clear signal that the club believe.

Shablii recognises the appeal. A long deal with a club of Chelsea’s stature screams confidence in the player. Yet he refuses to let contract length become the main selling point. Role, development plan, and playing time still sit at the top of his checklist. A long contract without a clear route to the pitch can quietly stall a career.

Yarmolyuk’s blueprint and Mykolenko’s choice

If Guram wants a model for how to navigate this world, he does not have to look far.

Yarmolyuk’s journey to Brentford’s first team was not instant. He arrived in England as a teenager from a different football culture, needing time to adapt to everything: language, style, intensity. Shablii stayed close, helping him settle off the field so that football could stay at the centre of his life.

Step by step, the midfielder climbed. Brentford B. Training with the seniors. Cameos. Then a real role in a Premier League side that prizes energy, intelligence, and tactical discipline.

The lesson Shablii draws is stark: do not rush. Find a club that knows how to work with young players. Trust the process. Put the hours in every day. That is how a promising name on a scout’s list becomes a fixture on a team sheet.

Mykolenko offers another angle: the decision to stay. The Everton left-back signed a new deal last month, a move that Shablii says followed serious discussions but little doubt. Mykolenko knows the club, the league, and the demands. He feels comfortable. The key was confirmation that Everton see him as part of a long-term project, not just a short-term solution.

Once that was clear, continuing the relationship made sense for everyone involved.

The Premier League’s pull – and the need for balance

Hovering over all these individual stories is a bigger question: the Premier League’s dominance.

English clubs, armed with vast budgets and global reach, now drive much of the transfer market. For players, that dominance opens doors. The league’s intensity and profile make it a dream destination and a powerful development platform.

Shablii recognises that reality. For his clients, the Premier League offers some of the best conditions to grow and compete.

Yet he also warns that football, as a whole, needs balance. Healthy competition between leagues keeps the sport vibrant, unpredictable, and strong. A single league towering over the rest may not be ideal for the global game, even if it is the product of years of smart commercial work and relentless interest in English football.

For now, though, the pull of England remains irresistible. Mykolenko is established at Everton. Yarmolyuk is carving out his space at Brentford. And in Split, a 17-year-old named Adam Guram is learning his trade while Arsenal and Chelsea keep watching, waiting to decide when – not if – to make their move.

The next decision, as Shablii knows better than most, could define a career.