Viktor Kovalenko (footballer)
 Kovalenko with Shakhtar Donetsk in 2015 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Viktor Viktorovych Kovalenko | ||
| Date of birth | 14 February 1996 | ||
| Place of birth | Kherson, Ukraine | ||
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)[1] | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2008–2015 | Shakhtar Donetsk | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2014–2021 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 130 | (23) |
| 2021–2024 | Atalanta | 1 | (0) |
| 2021–2022 | → Spezia (loan) | 26 | (1) |
| 2022–2023 | → Spezia (loan) | 19 | (0) |
| 2023–2024 | → Empoli (loan) | 17 | (1) |
| 2025 | Empoli | 6 | (0) |
| 2025–2026 | Aris Limassol | 6 | (0) |
| 2026 | Olympiakos Nicosia | 13 | (2) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2011–2012 | Ukraine U16 | 13 | (4) |
| 2010–2013 | Ukraine U17 | 20 | (11) |
| 2013–2015 | Ukraine U19 | 20 | (5) |
| 2015 | Ukraine U20 | 5 | (5) |
| 2015–2018 | Ukraine U21 | 13 | (6) |
| 2016– | Ukraine | 33 | (0) |
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 14 June 2026 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 11 November 2021 | |||
Viktor Viktorovych Kovalenko (Ukrainian: Ві́ктор Ві́кторович Ковале́нко; born 14 February 1996) is a Ukrainian professional footballer who played as a midfielder for Olympiakos Nicosia and the Ukraine national team.
Club career
[edit]Shakhtar Donetsk
[edit]Kovalenko is product of youth team of Shakhtar Donetsk.[2] He made his début in the Ukrainian Premier League for Shakhtar in the game against Vorskla Poltava on 28 February 2015.[3] On 9 May 2015, he made his first direct contribution for the first team when assisting the fifth and sixth goals for Shakhtar in a 7–3 win over Hoverla Uzhhorod.
On 20 February 2020, Kovalenko scored the winning goal in Shakhtar's 2–1 win against Benfica in the first leg of their Europa League Round of 32 clash.[4]
On 17 October 2020, Kovalenko scored twice in the first 18 minutes of Shakhtar's 5–1 hammering of FC Lviv in the Ukrainian Premier League.[5]
Atalanta
[edit]On 1 February 2021, with less than six months remaining in his contract with Shakhtar, Kovalenko signed a four-and-a-half-year deal with Serie A club Atalanta for a reported fee of €700,000.[6] He made his debut for the club on 21 March, as an 87th-minute substitute for fellow countryman Ruslan Malinovskyi in a Serie A 2–0 win at Verona.[7]
Loans to Spezia
[edit]On 8 August 2021, Kovalenko joined fellow Serie A side Spezia on a season-long loan.[8]
On 2 August 2022, he returned to Spezia on another loan, with Spezia holding an obligation to buy if the club avoids relegation.[9]
Release by Atalanta
[edit]Kovalenko was released from his contract by Atalanta in August 2024 at the end of the summer transfer window.[10]
Empoli
[edit]On 11 February 2025, Kovalenko signed for Empoli on a free transfer after being released.[11]
Aris Limassol
[edit]In September 2025 Kovalenko moved to Cypriot First Division club Aris LImassol on a two-year contract.[12]
Olympiakos Nicosia
[edit]In February 2026 he moved to Olympiakos Nicosia.
International career
[edit]Kovalenko was called up by Ukraine to play in the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand. He scored two goals in a 6–0 victory over Myanmar[13] and added a hat-trick against the United States to secure 3–0 win at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland, as the team reached the round of 16.[14] He won the Golden Boot of the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup with five goals.
Career statistics
[edit]Club
[edit]- As of match played 25 May 2025[15]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Shakhtar Donetsk | 2014–15 | Ukrainian Premier League | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 2015–16 | Ukrainian Premier League | 23 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 15[a] | 2 | 1 | 0 | 46 | 4 | |
| 2016–17 | Ukrainian Premier League | 28 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 8[b] | 3 | 1 | 0 | 38 | 10 | |
| 2017–18 | Ukrainian Premier League | 27 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 5[c] | 0 | 1 | 0 | 37 | 5 | |
| 2018–19 | Ukrainian Premier League | 25 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 6[d] | 0 | 1 | 0 | 37 | 7 | |
| 2019–20 | Ukrainian Premier League | 17 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9[e] | 1 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 2 | |
| 2020–21 | Ukrainian Premier League | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3[c] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 4 | |
| Total | 130 | 23 | 18 | 3 | 48 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 200 | 32 | ||
| Atalanta | 2020–21 | Serie A | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||
| Spezia (loan) | 2021–22 | Serie A | 26 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 27 | 1 | ||
| Spezia (loan) | 2022–23 | Serie A | 19 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 20 | 0 | ||
| Empoli (loan) | 2023–24 | Serie A | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 17 | 1 | ||
| Empoli | 2024–25 | Serie A | 6 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 8 | 1 | ||
| Career total | 199 | 26 | 22 | 4 | 48 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 273 | 36 | ||
- ↑ Seven appearances in UEFA Champions League, eight appearances and two goals in UEFA Europa League
- ↑ Appearances in UEFA Europa League
- 1 2 Appearances in UEFA Champions League
- ↑ Six appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League
- ↑ Five appearances in UEFA Champions League, four appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
International
[edit]- As of 11 November 2021
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ukraine | 2016 | 10 | 0 |
| 2017 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 33 | 0 | |
Honours
[edit]Shakhtar Donetsk
- Ukrainian Premier League: 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20
- Ukrainian Cup: 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19
- Ukrainian Super Cup: 2015, 2017
Individual
- FIFA World Youth Championship Golden Shoe: 2015[16]
- Ukrainian Premier League Best young player: 2015–16[17]
- Golden talent of Ukraine: 2015 (U-19), 2016 (U-21)
References
[edit]- ↑ "Viktor Kovalenko". Atalanta B.C. Archived from the original on 2 March 2021.
- ↑ Віктор Коваленко (in Ukrainian). Shakhtar's Academy Site. 1 March 2015. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
- ↑ Чемпіонат Прем'єр-ліги. 15 тур. Матч № 102 28 February 2015 (in Ukrainian). UPL Official Web Site. 1 March 2015.
- ↑ Patrick. "Castro's Shakhtar top Benfica in narrow first-leg triumph". portugoal.net. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
- ↑ ""Шахтар" — "Львів" — 5:1". UPL (in Ukrainian). 17 October 2020. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
- ↑ "Official: Kovalenko to Atalanta". Fotball-Italia. 1 February 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
- ↑ "Kovalenko's Atalanta debut at Verona". Atalanta B.C. 21 March 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
- ↑ "Ufficiale Viktor Kovalenko è un nuovo calciatore dello Spezia". Spezia Calcio (in Italian). 8 August 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
- ↑ "OFFICIAL: VIKTOR KOVALENKO BACK WITH THE EAGLES". Spezia. 2 August 2022. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
- ↑ "All deals until August 30 2024". Atalanta. 31 August 2024. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
- ↑ "Official: Carboni returns to Inter and Empoli sign Kovalenko as free agent". OneFootball. 11 February 2025.
- ↑ "Український футболіст Коваленко став одноклубником росіянина на Кіпрі" [Ukrainian footballer Kovalenko became a teammate of a Russian in Cyprus]. sport.nv.ua (in Ukrainian). 30 September 2025. Retrieved 18 December 2025.
- ↑ "Ukraine hit Myanmar for six". FIFA. 2 June 2015. Archived from the original on 22 June 2015. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
- ↑ "Kovalenko treble puts Ukraine on top". FIFA. 5 June 2015. Archived from the original on 7 June 2015. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
- ↑ Viktor Kovalenko at Soccerway
- ↑ "FIFA World Youth Championship New Zealand 2015". FIFA. Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- ↑ "Визначено лауреатів сезону 2015/16!". .upl.ua. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
External links
[edit]
- Viktor Kovalenko at UAF (in Ukrainian)
- Viktor Kovalenko at Topforward
|  | |
- 1996 births
- Living people
- 21st-century Ukrainian sportsmen
- Ukrainian men's footballers
- Footballers from Kherson
- Men's association football midfielders
- Ukraine men's international footballers
- Ukraine men's under-21 international footballers
- Ukraine men's youth international footballers
- 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup players
- UEFA Euro 2016 players
- Ukrainian Premier League players
- Serie A players
- Cypriot First Division players
- FC Shakhtar Donetsk players
- Atalanta BC players
- Spezia Calcio players
- Empoli FC players
- Aris Limassol FC players
- Olympiakos Nicosia players
- Ukrainian expatriate men's footballers
- Ukrainian expatriate sportspeople in Italy
- Expatriate men's footballers in Italy
- Ukrainian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus
- Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus
