Playing on someone else's field: how are Russian legionnaires doing in Europe
In recent years, it has become harder for Russian football players to move to Europe, but there are still many representatives of our country in foreign championships. Moreover, many of them are in leading roles at their clubs, and some are making noise in the Champions League this season.
The performances of Matvey Safonov and Nikita Khaikin are an excellent reason to count the Russian professional players in Europe. Below is the full list. The list is based on several criteria. A football player must: have the citizenship of the Russian Federation; not play for the adult national teams of other countries, that is, retain the right to join the Russian national team; represent a club from the top division outside the countries of the former USSR.
France
Alexander Golovin
Club: Monaco
Age: 29 years old
Role: midfielder
Cost*: €18 million
In the 2025/26 season: 30 matches, 4 goals
* Hereafter, the Transfermarkt data.
Golovin's transfer to Monaco in 2018 looked like a stepping stone for a Russian football player before transferring to a top club. However, this has not happened in eight years. On the one hand, it is sad that the expectations were not fulfilled. On the other hand, holding the title of a key player in one of the strongest teams in France for such a long period is also a sign of high class.
It is significant that Golovin consistently plays under different coaches, and also quickly returns to the base after injuries. Alexander also suffered a fall injury this season, but it did not affect his status as a Russian. However, Golovin could not score for 21 matches from the end of October to March, but in the last month and a half he has transformed: 2 +3 scoring points according to the goal plus pass system in the last five matches of the championship.
Matvey Safonov
Club: PSG
Age: 27 years old
Role: goalkeeper
Cost: €15 million
In the 2025/26 season: 16 matches, 7 to zero, 17 goals conceded
The Krasnodar graduate is the face of the Russian Legion today. In itself, his transfer to PSG was perceived as a miracle: under the conditions of sanctions, it became harder for Russian football players to get to Europe, and the top club finally turned into a dream. At least that's what it seemed.
But Safonov didn't just switch to sitting on a bench with stars. In a year and a half, he has already won six different tournaments, and in one of them — the Intercontinental Cup — he reflected four penalty shootouts. Matvey also broke his arm in that game, which caused him to be out for a month, but immediately after returning, he firmly took the place of the first number of the team and remains so to this day. The goal is to win the championship and the Champions League already as PSG's main goalkeeper.
Spain
Arsen Zakharyan
Club: Real Sociedad
Age: 22 years old
Role: midfielder
Cost: €10 million
In the 2025/26 season: 20 matches, 1 goal
Zakharyan has been playing in Spain for 2.5 years. The first season was not bad, and the second was a nightmare: due to injuries, Arsen spent only 78 minutes on the field.
In the summer of 2025, it seemed that all the health problems of the Dynamo pupil were over. But another difficulty arose — it turned out to be extremely difficult for Zakharyan to re-enter the Sociedad starting line-up. Arsene was given enough playing time only in the Cup, and he even scored against Negreira from the sixth league. However, Zakharyan did not have more productive actions this season. He has only two starts in the current championship, and only one under new coach Pellegrino Matarazzo.
Norway
Nikita Khaykin
Club: Bude-Glimt
Age: 30 years old
Role: goalkeeper
Cost: €3.5 million
In the 2025/26 season: 15 matches, 3 to zero, 24 goals conceded
It's hard to find a Russian football player with the same checkered biography as Khaykin. Born in Israel, he started at Torpedo High School, and moved to Chelsea at the age of 14. Nikita recalled how Roman Abramovich arrived by helicopter at the academy's training sessions to personally observe his compatriot.
Portugal, Spain, Israel, Russia, England — Khaykin has been to many places, but he became a full-fledged star in Norway. Nikita moved to Buda-Glimt in early 2019, when this club was known only in Scandinavia. At that time, he had never even won the Norwegian championship, and it was impossible to imagine that in seven years "Buda" would play in the 1/8 finals of the Champions League.
But it happened: the Russian goalkeeper has already played more than 250 matches for the Polar team, became champion with it four times, and this season he broke Thibaut Courtois' record for the number of saves in the Champions League (68). In Norway, many people want Haikin to get citizenship of the country and go to the World Cup as part of the national team: Nikita's competitors are definitely not stronger than him.
Austria
Daniil Khudyakov
Club: "Sturm"
Age: 22 years old
Role: goalkeeper
Cost: 700 thousand euros.
In the 2025/26 season: 3 matches, 1 to zero, 6 goals conceded for the Storm. 5 matches, 9 goals conceded for Sturm-2
A graduate of Lokomotiv, he made his debut in the Europa League at the age of 17. At the end of 2021, he fully played matches with Lazio and Marseille. Khudyakov became the youngest Russian goalkeeper in the history of European cups, breaking Igor Akinfeev's record.
However, Daniil failed to gain a foothold in the red-green team — he lost the competition to Ilya Lantratov and in the summer of 2024 abruptly changed his career vector, joining Sturm.
Things are not going well for Khudyakov in Austria. He played four matches in his first season, but two of them were in the Champions League with Girona and Lille. And in the summer, the Russian was injured — he broke his arm when he fell from a bicycle, which is why he was out until the end of October.
This season, the Russian has three games on his account, two of which are in the Europa League with Feyenoord and Brann. He seems to be flashing in European competitions, but there is very little practice: in order to get it, Khudyakov was even sent to Sturm-2 in the fall, which is fighting for survival in the division below.
Leon Klassen
Club: GAK, on loan from Darmstadt (Germany)
Age: 25 years old
Role: defender
Cost: €600 thousand.
In the 2025/26 season: 7 matches, 1 goal for GAK. 5 matches for Darmstadt
Klassen was born and raised in Germany. Until 2022, few people knew about Leon in Russia, but after joining Spartak, everything changed. However, the defender did not play in the Moscow team, so in the summer of 2024 he returned to Europe, first to the Danish Lyngby and then to Darmstadt.
Two months ago, the German club loaned Klassen to the Austrian GAK until the end of the season. There, Leon immediately became the main left lateral, he plays almost all the games entirely and even scored against Salzburg. But it's going to be a tough finish to the season — the team is fighting for survival.
Belgium
Roman Neustaedter
Club: "Westerlo"
Age: 38 years old
Role: defender
Cost: €150 thousand.
In the 2025/26 season: 12 matches
A forgotten name for Russian fans: before Euro 2016, a German born in Dnepropetrovsk was granted Russian citizenship, but neither he nor the national team succeeded in the tournament. After the 2018 World Cup, Neustaedter was again actively called up to the national team, and then he moved to Dynamo, where he also did not shine.
Since 2022, Roman has been playing for the average player of the Belgian championship, Westerlo. This season, until February, the veteran most often remained in the reserve of the team, but in recent matches he has been at the base all the time. His contract with Westerlo ends in the summer — it is unknown whether the agreement with the 38-year-old defender will be extended.
Portugal
Ivan Zlobin
Club: "Family Name"
Age: 29 years old
Role: goalkeeper
Cost: €1.5 million
In the 2025/26 season: 3 matches, 1 to zero, 5 goals conceded
A CSKA graduate, he has been playing in Portugal since 2015. At some point, Zlobin was considered the second goalkeeper of Benfica and even played seven matches for it, but he could not break into the base.
Since 2020, the Russian has been defending the gates of the "Surname", a strong middle-class player in the league. In recent championships, he took seventh and eighth places, and now he is in fifth place and aspires to enter the European Cup. However, Zlobin watches the success of the "Family" from the bench — this season he played only in the Cup, from where the team has already been eliminated, and in the championship for the second year he cannot win the competition from the Montenegrin Tsarevich.
Türkiye
Herman Onugha
Club: Kayserispor
Age: 29 years old
Role: striker
Cost: €1.8 million
In the 2025/26 season: 23 matches, 8 goals for Kayserispor. 1 match for Copenhagen
Kayserispor is a team from the relegation zone of the Turkish championship. This is the club with the largest number of Russians in the top European leagues. Moreover, all three moved there during the current season from different leagues.
Former Krasnodar striker German Onugha was the first to join the Turkish team: he spent the last few years in Denmark, but in September Copenhagen decided to sell the striker for €1 million. At Kayserispor, Onugha quickly became the main player and by March had already scored 8 league goals, 11th in the league's goalscoring list. In November, Herman even scored a double against Fenerbahce, although Kayserispor lost 2:4.
Denis Makarov
Club: Kayserispor
Age: 28 years old
Role: midfielder
Cost: €1.5 million
In the 2025/26 season: 6 matches for Kayserispor, 12 matches for Dynamo
Denis Makarov became Kayserispor's second newcomer this season. In winter, the Dynamo winger left the club with a scandal: at parting, he gave a harsh interview in which he criticized the coaching staff of Rolan Gusev for "zero respect and respect."
Makarov plays more often in Turkey than at the end of last year in the Russian Premier League, but his time on the field has decreased in recent matches. In the matches against Genchlerbirliiga and Trabzonspor, Denis got 75 minutes each, in the next game he was substituted at halftime, and in the last round he only came on as a substitute. Makarov has not yet had any effective actions.
Fyodor Chalov
Club: Kayserispor, on loan from PAOK (Greece)
Age: 27 years old
Role: striker
Cost: €5 million
In the 2025/26 season: 7 matches for Kayserispor, 24 matches, 3 goals for PAOK
Unlike Onugha and Makarov, Chalov is on loan at Kayserispor. In a year and a half at PAOK, Fedor scored only 8 goals and now he has gone to Turkey to look for himself again.
Like Makarov, Chalov has not yet performed any effective actions and cannot be considered a solid player in the starting lineup. In the first six matches, he entered the field three times during the meeting and was substituted, but in the last round he played the whole match. Chalov has a hard time scoring goals this season: he has already gone 20 games without scoring goals.
George Dzhikiya
Club: Antalyaspor
Age: 32 years old
Role: defender
Cost: €1.5 million
In the 2025/26 season: 15 matches, 2 goals
After the disbandment of Khimki, the once-main defender of the Russian national team moved to Antalyaspor and was a solid starter there until mid-November, even scoring a couple of goals. But after returning to the lineup after a minor injury, Jikiya found himself on the bench.
In the winter, Antalyaspor also underwent a reshuffle — the new coach Sami Ugurlu relies on other defenders. Although the situation has improved a bit recently: in mid-March, Jikiya played in the championship for the first time since November.
Antalyaspor is fighting for survival, but it also has financial problems: in February, Jikiya's agent admitted that the player had not received a salary since November. Perhaps this will push Georgy to return to the RPL in the summer.
Greece
Magomed Ozdoev
Club: PAOK
Age: 33 years old
Role: midfielder
Cost: €1.5 million
In the 2025/26 season: 43 matches, 8 goals
One of the brightest Russian foreign players this season. Ozdoev is not just among the key players of PAOK: he is also its top scorer, although he plays in the center of the field. In general, in the sniper race of the championship, only eight players scored more than Ozdoev, but all of them are strikers or wingers.
Magomed's best stretch came at the end of autumn, when he scored three doubles in five rounds of the Super League. PAOK has already been eliminated from the Europa League, but it claims an internal double: it is third in the championship with a three—point gap from the leader, and has already reached the final in the Cup - the trophy match with OFI will take place at the end of April.
Igor Kalinin
Club: "Panserraicos"
Age: 30 years old
Role: defender
Cost: €600 thousand.
In the 2025/26 season: 16 matches
Kalinin has been a prominent figure in the RPL in recent years: he played for Krasnodar, Rubin, Ural, Rostov and Fakel. But six months ago, I suddenly found myself in Greece — the outsider of the Super League, Panserraicos, needed a left back, and the club went to Kalinin.
Igor plays all the time, but with a caveat — when he is not disqualified. In 16 matches, Kalinin received as many as 9 yellow cards, the most in the league for only one player. And for Panserraicos, the season is going hard: it is in the relegation zone with a gap of 6 points from the saving 12th place.
Yuri Lodygin
Club: Levadiakos
Age: 35 years old
Role: goalkeeper
Cost: €300 thousand.
In the 2025/26 season: 28 matches, 6 to zero, 38 goals conceded
The former Zenit goalkeeper has been playing in his second homeland for five years, and last summer he changed clubs from Panathinaikos, where he was the second goalkeeper, to Levadiakos. In this team, the veteran immediately became the main one and still holds this status.
The team itself performs much higher than expected. In Greece, Levadiakos has a reputation as an "elevator club", but this season it has long claimed a place in the top 4 championship group. It was only in the last month that the team slowed down and eventually finished fifth in the main stage, but it still has a great chance to compete for a place in the Conference League.
Cyprus
Alexander Kokorin
Club: Aris
Age: 35 years old
Role: striker
Cost: €400 thousand.
In the 2025/26 season: 17 matches
Kokorin has been with Aris for the fourth year now: two months ago he celebrated his hundredth match for the team, which is more than for Zenit.
But this season is the worst in Alexander's career in Cyprus. Due to injury, he missed four months and only by the end of winter began to gain shape. In recent rounds, he entered the field four times in the starting lineup, but there has been no progress in performance: Kokorin still hasn't scored a single goal since May. The contract with Aris will end in the summer, but last year the club extended the agreement with him in a similar situation. Maybe Kokorin will stay in Cyprus even now, but Aris will not become the champion — there is a huge gap even from the top 3.
Denis Cheryshev
Club: Krasava Ipsonas
Age: 35 years old
Role: midfielder
Cost: €300 thousand.
In the 2025/26 season: 8 matches, 2 goals
One of the heroes of the 2018 World Cup has been traveling the world in recent years: after the Italian "Venice" and the Greek "Panionios" he ended up in Cyprus. Moreover, Cheryshev was a free agent for the first half of the season, but in the winter Denis was invited to his club by former Amkar and Krylia Sovetov forward Evgeny Savin.
Krasava is fighting for survival in the Cyprus championship and often scores points after the New Year, not least thanks to Cheryshev. If at first Denis came on as a substitute, then in three rounds in a row he appears at the start in the top ten position. Two goals in the last four matches is an indicator that the ex-striker of the Russian national team is still okay.
Let's add that Evgeny Bashkirov performs in Finland, Nikita Iosifov and Stanislav Krapukhin in Slovenia, Egor Prutsev in Serbia, Ilya Serikov in Montenegro, and Grigory Morozov in Israel.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
