Viktor Kovalenko (footballer)
{{short description|Ukrainian footballer (born 1996)}}
{{about|the soccer player|the ice dancer|Viktor Kovalenko (ice dancer)|the sailor|Victor Kovalenko|the decathlete|Victor Covalenco}}
{{family name hatnote|Viktorovych|Kovalenko|lang=Eastern Slavic}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Viktor Kovalenko
| image = Viktor_Kovalenko_132316.jpg
| caption = Kovalenko with Shakhtar Donetsk in 2015
| full_name = Viktor Viktorovych Kovalenko
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1996|2|14}}
| birth_place = Kherson, Ukraine
| currentclub = Empoli
| clubnumber = 20
| position = Midfielder
| youthyears1 = 2008–2015
| youthclubs1 = Shakhtar Donetsk
| years1 = 2014–2021
| clubs1 = Shakhtar Donetsk
| caps1 = 130
| goals1 = 23
| years2 = 2021–2024
| clubs2 = Atalanta
| caps2 = 1
| goals2 = 0
| years3 = 2021–2022
| clubs3 = → Spezia (loan)
| caps3 = 26
| goals3 = 1
| years4 = 2022–2023
| clubs4 = → Spezia (loan)
| caps4 = 19
| goals4 = 0
| years5 = 2023–2024
| clubs5 = → Empoli (loan)
| caps5 = 17
| goals5 = 1
| years6 = 2025–
| clubs6 = Empoli
| caps6 = 5
| goals6 = 0
| nationalyears1 = 2011–2012
| nationalteam1 = Ukraine U16
| nationalcaps1 = 13
| nationalgoals1 = 4
| nationalyears2 = 2010–2013
| nationalteam2 = Ukraine U17
| nationalcaps2 = 20
| nationalgoals2 = 11
| nationalyears3 = 2013–2015
| nationalteam3 = Ukraine U19
| nationalcaps3 = 20
| nationalgoals3 = 5
| nationalyears4 = 2015
| nationalteam4 = Ukraine U20
| nationalcaps4 = 5
| nationalgoals4 = 5
| nationalyears5 = 2015–2018
| nationalteam5 = Ukraine U21
| nationalcaps5 = 13
| nationalgoals5 = 6
| nationalyears6 = 2016–
| nationalteam6 = Ukraine
| nationalcaps6 = 33
| nationalgoals6 = 0
| club-update = 08:14, 25 April 2025 (UTC)
| nationalteam-update = 11 November 2021
}}
Viktor Viktorovych Kovalenko ({{langx|uk|Ві́ктор Ві́кторович Ковале́нко}}; born 14 February 1996) is a Ukrainian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Italian {{Italian football updater|Empoli}} club Empoli and the Ukraine national team.
Club career
=Shakhtar Donetsk=
Kovalenko is product of youth team of Shakhtar Donetsk.{{cite web|publisher=Shakhtar's Academy Site|script-title=uk:Віктор Коваленко|url=http://academy.shakhtar.com/ua/team/player/?id=464&team_name=/|language=uk|date=1 March 2015|access-date=1 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402091855/http://academy.shakhtar.com/ua/team/player/?id=464&team_name=%2F|archive-date=2 April 2015|url-status=dead}} He made his début in the Ukrainian Premier League for Shakhtar in the game against Vorskla Poltava on 28 February 2015.{{cite web|publisher=UPL Official Web Site|script-title=uk:Чемпіонат Прем'єр-ліги. 15 тур. Матч № 102 28 February 2015|url=http://fpl.ua/ukr/protocol/2014_2015/pl/9/38/|language=uk|date=1 March 2015}} 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.{{Cite web|url=https://portugoal.net/club-news/1498-castro-s-shakhtar-tops-benfica-in-narrow-first-leg-triumph|title=Castro's Shakhtar top Benfica in narrow first-leg triumph|last=Patrick|website=portugoal.net|language=en-gb|access-date=28 February 2020}}
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.{{cite web|url=https://upl.ua/en/report/view/5320/review|title="Шахтар" — "Львів" — 5:1|website=UPL|date=17 October 2020|access-date=21 October 2020|language=uk}}
=Atalanta=
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.{{cite web|url=https://www.football-italia.net/165735/official-kovalenko-atalanta|title=Official: Kovalenko to Atalanta|website=Fotball-Italia|date=1 February 2021|access-date=1 February 2021}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.atalanta.it/en/news/kovalenko-atalanta-debut-at-verona/|title=Kovalenko's Atalanta debut at Verona|website=Atalanta B.C.|date=21 March 2021|access-date=21 March 2021}}
==Loans to Spezia==
On 8 August 2021, Kovalenko joined fellow Serie A side Spezia on a season-long loan.{{cite web|url=https://www.acspezia.com/news/ufficiale-viktor-kovalenko-un-nuovo-calciatore-dello-spezia.22705.html|title=Ufficiale Viktor Kovalenko è un nuovo calciatore dello Spezia|website=Spezia Calcio|date=8 August 2021|access-date=8 August 2021|language=it}}
On 2 August 2022, he returned to Spezia on another loan, with Spezia holding an obligation to buy if the club avoids relegation.{{cite web|publisher=Spezia|url=https://www.acspezia.com/en/news/ufficiale-viktor-kovalenko-di-nuovo-con-le-aquile.23812.html|title=OFFICIAL: VIKTOR KOVALENKO BACK WITH THE EAGLES|date=2 August 2022|access-date=15 August 2022}}
=Release by Atalanta=
Kovalenko was released from his contract by Atalanta in August 2024 at the end of the summer transfer window.{{cite web|publisher=Atalanta|url=https://en.atalanta.it/news/2024-25-summer-transfer-window-the-final-cut|title=All deals until August 30 2024|date=31 August 2024|access-date=31 August 2024}}
=Empoli=
On 11 February 2025, Kovalenko sign for Empoli for a free transfer after being released.{{cite web|title=Official: Carboni returns to Inter and Empoli sign Kovalenko as free agent|url=https://onefootball.com/id/berita/official-carboni-returns-to-inter-and-empoli-sign-kovalenko-as-free-agent-40694141|work=OneFootball|date=2025-02-11}}
International career
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{{cite news|title=Ukraine hit Myanmar for six|url=https://www.fifa.com/u20worldcup/matches/round=271602/match=300269563/match-report.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150622041337/http://www.fifa.com/u20worldcup/matches/round=271602/match=300269563/match-report.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 June 2015|access-date=15 June 2015|publisher=FIFA|date=2 June 2015}} 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.{{cite news|title=Kovalenko treble puts Ukraine on top|url=https://www.fifa.com/u20worldcup/matches/round=271602/match=300269565/match-report.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150607183220/http://www.fifa.com/u20worldcup/matches/round=271602/match=300269565/match-report.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 June 2015|access-date=15 June 2015|publisher=FIFA|date=5 June 2015}} He won the Golden Boot of the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup with five goals.
Career statistics
=Club=
{{updated|match played 24 April 2025.}}{{Soccerway|viktor-kovalenko/275828}}
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition | ||||||||||
| rowspan="2"|Club
!rowspan="2"|Season !colspan="3"|League !colspan="2"|National Cup !colspan="2"|Europe !colspan="2"|Other !colspan="2"|Total | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| rowspan="8"|Shakhtar Donetsk
|2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2015–16
|Ukrainian Premier League |23 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 15{{efn|Seven appearances in UEFA Champions League, eight appearances and two goals in UEFA Europa League}} | 2 | 1 | 0 | 46 | 4 | |
| 2016–17
|Ukrainian Premier League |28 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 8{{efn|name=UEL|Appearances in UEFA Europa League}} | 3 | 1 | 0 | 38 | 10 | |
| 2017–18
|Ukrainian Premier League |27 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 5{{efn|name=UCL|Appearances in UEFA Champions League}} | 0 | 1 | 0 | 37 | 5 | |
| 2018–19
|Ukrainian Premier League |25 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 6{{efn|Six appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League}} | 0 | 1 | 0 | 37 | 7 | |
| 2019–20
|Ukrainian Premier League |17 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9{{efn|Five appearances in UEFA Champions League, four appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League}} | 1 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 2 | |
| 2020–21
|Ukrainian Premier League |8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3{{efn|name=UCL}} | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 4 | |
| colspan="2"|Total
!130 | 23 | 18 | 3 | 48 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 200 | 32 | |
| Atalanta
|1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 1 | 0 | |||
| Spezia (loan)
|Serie A |26 | 1 | 1 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 27 | 1 | |||
| Spezia (loan)
|Serie A |19 | 0 | 1 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 20 | 0 | |||
| Empoli (loan)
|Serie A |17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 17 | 1 | |||
| rowspan="2"|Empoli
|Serie A |5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 7 | 1 | |||
| colspan="2"|Total
!22 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 2 | |
| colspan="3"|Career total
!198 | 26 | 22 | 4 | 48 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 272 | 36 |
{{notelist}}
=International=
{{updated|11 November 2021}}
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Appearances and goals by national team and year | |||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| rowspan="6"|Ukraine
|2016 | 10 | 0 | |
| 2017 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 3 | 0 | |
| colspan="2"|Total||33||0 |
Honours
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{{cite web |title=FIFA World Youth Championship New Zealand 2015 |publisher=FIFA |url=https://www.fifa.com/u20worldcup/archive/newzealand2015/awards/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624210319/http://www.fifa.com/u20worldcup/archive/newzealand2015/awards/index.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 June 2016|access-date=5 October 2017}}
- Ukrainian Premier League Best young player: 2015–16{{cite web |title=Визначено лауреатів сезону 2015/16!|publisher=.upl.ua|url=http://www.upl.ua/news/view/310|access-date=5 October 2017}}
- Top Golden talent: 2015 (U-19), 2016 (U-21)
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{commons category}}
- {{FFU Profile|65178}}
- [http://thetopforward.com/view?id=140 Viktor Kovalenko] at Topforward
{{Empoli FC squad}}
{{Ukraine squad UEFA Euro 2016}}
{{FIFA U-20 World Cup awards}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kovalenko, Viktor}}
Category:Footballers from Kherson
Category:Ukrainian men's footballers
Category:Men's association football midfielders
Category:FC Shakhtar Donetsk players
Category:Spezia Calcio players
Category:Ukrainian Premier League players
Category:Ukraine men's international footballers
Category:Ukraine men's under-21 international footballers
Category:Ukraine men's youth international footballers
Category:21st-century Ukrainian sportsmen
Category:UEFA Euro 2016 players
Category:Ukrainian expatriate men's footballers