Andriy Yarmolenko has had to wait – and he has been happy to do so. Arguably the most talented Ukrainian of his generation joined Dynamo Kyiv in 2007, just as the famous club’s grip on all silverware in Ukraine was beginning to slip. Once a certainty to win the Ukrainian top flight and play in the Champions League every season, Dynamo were overtaken by Shakhtar Donetsk and went five years without winning the domestic title before finally triumphing again last spring.

Yarmolenko, who shone for Ukraine at Euro 2012 and has been consistently brilliant for his club side since, has seen his national team-mate Yevhen Konoplyanka join Sevilla but he has stayed in Ukraine, happy to serve the club he joined as a 13-year-old. His reward came with that league title last season and then progress from the group stage of the Champions League to set up Wednesday night’s last-16 game against Manchester City.

It is a huge game for the Ukrainian club and Yarmolenko, for one, is happy that they are playing an English team. The 26-year-old has a habit of playing well against Premier League teams. This is the 13th time the winger will play against an English side – eight times for his club side and four for the national team – and he is desperate to make a good impression again. Though they reached the now defunct second group stage in 2000, Dynamo have not played a knockout tie in the Champions League since the 1999 semi-finals and in addition to that, Yarmolenko hopes that two good performances against City will open the door for a move to the Premier League in the summer.

Yarmolenko signed a new contract with Dynamo towards the end of last year but is ready for the next chapter of his career – if a club pays a fee that the Ukrainian side’s president, Igor Surkis, is happy with. “I would certainly like to prove myself at the highest level,” Yarmolenko says in a joint interview with the Guardian and the Ukrainian website sportarena.com. “I watch the Premier League and La Liga regularly as they are the best leagues in Europe in my opinion. Although I have to say that English football holds the biggest attraction for me.”

Dynamo’s two Europa League games against Stoke City in 2011 furthered Yarmolenko’s interest in English football. “The focus is on physical battles while the tactical aspect is not as important,” he says. “It’s all about the entertainment and that’s why the stadiums are always sold out, that’s why they sign these multibillion TV deals.

“Playing for such big crowds is what every player dreams about. I would like to do that week in and week out. It would be great to step into a stadium like that every three or four days. [That kind of atmosphere] is definitely something we lack here in Ukraine.”

He also has fond memories of the two games against Everton last March, when Dynamo went through to the quarter-finals of the Europa League 6-4 on aggregate. Before the game some British newspapers had questioned whether he would be a success in the Premier League should he join a club there but he responded by setting up the away goal in the first leg and scoring in the thumping 5-2 home win that sealed Dynamo’s progress. Yarmolenko says he was not bothered by the criticism: “Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion. I know my strengths and weaknesses well but I’d rather speak for myself with what I do on the pitch.”

Yarmolenko has had plenty of advice and help throughout his career, from his first manager, Valery Gazzaev, to his current one, Serhiy Rebrov, as well as Andriy Shevchenko, his strike partner at Dynamo for a few seasons. “Every coach I have worked with has made a very valuable contribution to my career but I can’t imagine where I would be if it hadn’t been for Gazzaev’s support early on in my career at Dynamo,” he says. “Shevchenko was also very helpful. He used to give me advice, mainly about how to finish off moves. What kind of position is the goalkeeper in? Should I be aiming to shoot high or low and things like that.”

The winger racked up 18 goals and 19 assists last season, making him the Ukrainian Premier League player of the year, and already has 13 goals in 23 games this season. He has been struggling with a knee injury during the Ukrainian winter break but is hopeful of playing his part against Manchester City. It is a game Dynamo are approaching with confidence.

“City may not have been at their best this season but we mustn’t underestimate them,” he says. “I have watched all of their recent matches. They have had a lot of injuries recently but they have great resources and they’ve already showed that they are able to cope without the players who are missing.

“They don’t have any average players, do they? Sergio Agüero is one of the best strikers in the world, he’s up there with the best. Finishing, vision, speed – he has everything. Apart from him, I would say that David Silva and Yaya Touré are the ones to stand out but Fernandinho is the most important link between defence and attack.”

At one point it seemed as if Yarmolenko would not be a Dynamo player when the City games came around, after an unnamed Chinese club made an offer for him that reportedly exceeded the €50m Jiangsu Suning paid Shakhtar Donetsk for Alex Teixeira. Surkis, however, turned down the offer, saying that Yarmolenko “wasn’t interested” in a move to China so “they did not even start negotiations”. It was a similar story when Stoke inquired about the winger with Surkis then saying that Yarmolenko “should join a better club”.

So does Yarmolenko feel that he has missed out by staying at Dynamo for the past nine years? “Absolutely not. I feel that I’m progressing all the time and have no reason to slow down. You can argue that the footballer who leaves for Europe as a 20-year-old can improve there faster but on the other hand I feel I’m the finished product now. I know what I’m capable of now.

“I will leave Dynamo for a club that can offer me an opportunity to make a step up. Dynamo is the club that made me the player I am. Also, I shouldn’t leave my team for free and I definitely shouldn’t put my relationship with the president and fans at risk. I signed the new contract [so that the club would get a fee]. I was the one who signed it, there was no pressure from the club. I’m sure that we would find a solution with the president if the club received a good offer.”

Does he have a favourite club he would like to join? “It’s a hard question to answer, especially without knowing the people at a club well. But Pep Guardiola seems like a nice man and a great coach … ”