Ruslan Malinovsky may become the eighth Ukrainian football player who played in the elite division of French football
The midfielder of the Ukrainian national team and the midfielder of Atalanta is getting closer to moving to Marseille. On Monday, December 9, a Ukrainian arrived in France to undergo a medical examination. If it is successful, the Italian and French clubs should sign a contract for the transfer of the Ukrainian. Both the amount of the agreement and the term of its validity are known. Malinovsky himself may be the 11th Ukrainian football player who played in the French championship. True, only seven out of 10 of his predecessors have played in the elite division.
Zavarov and Yakovenko: “products” of the Soviet era
Football France for Ukrainian players was opened by Oleksandr Zavarov, who moved to Nancy from Juventus. In Italy, not a lot was expected from the midfielder, but Platini’s replacement, but the midfielder did not even manage to reach his usual level.
Probably cannot be called successful for Zavarov and the period in the first club Platini – Nancy. This time, injuries interfered. For the French team, the Ukrainian played only 67 matches in five years. In the elite division, Zavarov has 58 matches, 10 goals and an assist, in the French Cup – 8 matches and two goals, in Ligue 2 – one game.
The injury prevented the European career and Zavarov’s Dynamo partner Pavel Yakovenko. The midfielder moved to Sochaux in 1992, but played only six league games for the French club (one goal) and one in the Cup (assist).
Skachenko and Levitsky are representatives of the transitional period
It is unlikely that two representatives of the Ukrainian national team of the late 1990s and early 2000s, forward Sergei Skachenko and goalkeeper Maxim Levitsky, who left for Ligue 1 from Russian clubs, can be satisfied with the French stage of their careers. The first – from the Moscow Torpedo, the second – from the Novorossiysk Chernomorets.
Skachenko, who ended up in France in 1999, managed to be on loan twice in four years in Metz, and in general he played 39 matches for the French club. 27 in Ligue One (four goals), four in the National Cup, three in the League Cup and five in Ligue 2.
Levitsky, who moved to Saint-Etienne in 2000, started very briskly: 15 matches in Ligue 1 (19 goals conceded), six games clean. But then a very murky story happened with a Greek passport – the goalkeeper was issued fake documents so that he would not be considered a legionnaire, and Maxim had to leave France, having spent some time before that. Perhaps, if not for this story, Levitsky would have continued to play in France, but this is already guesswork.
Recent history: so far the most successful Ignatenko
But another Ukrainian goalkeeper, Dmitry Nepogodov, who ended up in Marseille in the mid-2000s, had practically no chances to play in a possible new club of Malinovsky. “Directly from France, they called the home phone and said: “Pack your things.” That’s how I ended up in Marseille. They watched me for two weeks, and then I got into the youth squad. I spent a little time in the first team, ”the goalkeeper recalled. However, the young Ukrainian had no chance to win competition from Steve Mandand. As well as playing at least one match for the first team of the club.
Could not gain a foothold in Bordeaux and football pilgrim Miroslav Slavov. The striker, who changed a damn dozen clubs and about a dozen countries during his career, having even played in Iran, ended up in France at about the same period as Nepogodov. He visited the youth team of Bordeaux, played two dozen matches (did not score goals), after which he left France, to which he did not return as a football player.
Two matches played, but only 8 minutes spent on the field in Ligue 1 for Ajaccio, appear in the profile of the youngest son of Pavel Yakovenko – Yuri. The 29-year-old, whose last club was Hamarkkameratene, tried to gain a foothold in France in the 2013/2014 season.
Things did not work out in the championship of France and the striker of Polissya Philip Budkovsky. The striker was on a six-month loan at Sochaux in the second half of 2018. Played 12 matches without scoring goals. The striker has played nine matches in Ligue 2, two in the French Cup (one assist), and one in the League Cup. In total, the Ukrainian has 486 minutes played, an average of 40 minutes per match.
The same two matches played in Ligue 1 as Yuriy Yakovenko, ex-forward Rukh Nikolai Kukharevich. The striker moved to Troyes in the summer of 2021, but was soon loaned to the Belgian Leuven, and now plays on the same rights for Hyberninan. Nevertheless, the Ukrainian managed to play two matches for Troyes in the championship (13 minutes). Perhaps a period in Hyberninan, where Nicolai has three goals and an assist in 10 games so far, will convince the Troyes bosses to trust him more.
So far, the last of the Ukrainian players and at the moment the most successful of the new generation of our players in France has become Daniil Ignatenko. The midfielder left Shakhtar on loan in Bordeaux and, with his game and attitude, convinced the Girondin club bosses of the need to buy out his contract. Moreover, despite the departure of Bordeaux from the elite.
The midfielder has already played 29 matches for Bordeaux (2 goals and 4 assists), of which 11 in Ligue 1 (three assists). This season, the midfielder has 16 matches for the club in the second division (2 + 1) and two in the Cup.
Not the most rosy results
Seven Ukrainians played in the first division of the French championship. So far, none of our compatriots has been able to win a single trophy in this country. Perhaps Malinovsky will succeed.
Source: Sportarena
I’m Scott Moore, a professional writer and journalist based in the US. I’ve been writing for various publications for over 8 years now, and have been working as an author at athletistic for the past five years. My work has been featured by some of the leading sports websites and magazines across Europe.
