The Ukrainian Premier League is now respected throughout Europe and its clubs are major players on the continental scene. Shakhtar Donetsk led the way, as they picked up the last UEFA Cup in 2009, before the competition morphed into the Europa League. It is not just Shakhtar who have made a splash though; giants Dynamo Kyiv continue to give a good account of themselves, while Metalist Kharkiv and Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk have also shown signs of becoming sides to be reckoned with.
Ukraine’s top flight looks set to be dominated by these four once again, with Karpaty Lviv popping their head into the fray. Of course, Shakhtar Donetsk, with their superior budget, backed by billionaire Rinat Akhmetov, have been able to allow Romanian coach Mircea Lucescu to purchase almost any player he has laid his eyes on, making them clear favourites.
In Donetsk, the major transfer story of the summer was the return of defender Dmytro Chygrynskiy from Barcelona. Not only was this clever business from Akhmetov, who ended up in profit to the tune of about €10M from a player who he sold to the Camp Nou side last summer, but it was also great news for Lucescu, who sees Chygrynskiy as a world-class defender and one of the best players in Ukrainian football.
There was more good news for Shakhtar fans though, and this time up front, as Croatian striker Eduardo da Silva was tempted from English side Arsenal. Akhmetov did all he could to push through the deal and the club’s representatives worked hard to convince Eduardo his future was in Ukraine. Shakhtar are hopeful that Eduardo can become a key player in their season’s ambition to reach at least the quarter-finals of the Champions League. The risk though, is clear, and a failure to settle could lead to the former Arsenal player becoming another Nery Castillo – the tricky Mexican who could not adapt to the Ukraine – who himself has been shipped out to Chicago Fire in the MLS. Lucescu’s side also added several youngsters, with perhaps the pick of the bunch being 21-year-old Henrikh Mkhitaryan, an exciting midfielder signed from Metalurh Donetsk.
Shakhtar’s high profile departures have been Brazilian Ilsinho, who has headed home, and midfielders Igor Duljaj and Mariusz Lewandowski, who have moved to PFC Sevastopol, one of the Premier League’s newly promoted sides. The latter two were seen off with a standing ovation from fans and team-mates alike.
Over at closest rivals Dynamo Kyiv the story has been one of a more cautious approach. Dynamo have allowed several impressive performers to leave, yet have managed to keep hold of, and sign to a new contract, young striker Artem Milevskiy. For much of the summer Milevskiy was linked with a move to join long time friend and partner Alexander Aliev at Lokomotiv Moscow, but his decision to stay in Kyiv is a big boost.
Defender Pape Diakhate has inked a deal to leave the Ukrainian side, heading to Lyon in France, while Carlos Correa has joined Flamengo on loan. However, coach Valery Gazzaev hopes a clutch of youngsters can rise to the occasion this season. Young 19-year-old shot-stopper Maksym Koval continues to improve from game to game and last season with Metalurh Zaporizhya showcased awesome potential. Gazzaev gave Koval a vote of confidence by starting him in the Champions League playoff defeat against Ajax.
Further arrivals of note are Goran Popov, a Macedonian defender snapped up from Dutch side Heerenveen and Facundo Bertoglio (Colon) and Andre Felipe (Santos) were added to boost the club’s attack. Both Popov and Bertoglio have already made something of an impact in Kyiv, turning in a string of fine performances.
The club that finished third for the past four seasons, Metalist Kharkiv, will most probably once again be observers of the Dynamo-Shakhtar struggle. The reason for this is quite clear, Metalist cannot afford to invest enough to make a real push for the top two and the Champions League football it would bring.
Major arrivals in Kharkiv were Andriy Vorobey, an experienced 31-year-old striker who can count Shakhtar amongst his former clubs, and Cleiton Xavier, a Brazilian attacking midfielder, bought from Palmeiras. Both of these signings were made with an eye on helping forwards Denys Oliynyk and Marko Dević, who are still vital to Metalist’s success.
Coach Myron Markevych was landed with an emergency late in the club’s transfer period as first choice keeper Alexander Goryainov picked up an injury against Dynamo Kyiv. Maxim Startsev was snapped up from Tavria Simferopol and will take the gloves.
In the departure lounge Metalist lost arguably their best performer of the past two years in striker Jaja Coelho. The forward’s transfer was something of a mini-saga in Kharkiv as rumours first surfaced that Shakhtar wished to snap up the 24-year-old. No sooner had this happened than Metalist owner Alexander Yarloslavsky promised the Brazilian would remain. However, Jaja appeared to show no desire to stay, fell out with Markevych and was sold soon after to Trabzonspor.
A surprising deal was the transfer of defender Jonathan Maidana and midfielder Walter Acevedo, who moved to River Plate for a substantial fee, plus defender Cristian Villagra. Only Markevych knows the reason for the duo’s departure after both performed well last season. Fans hoping for Markevych to make a splash in the transfer market were left disappointed and the feeling still remains that Metalist may be just one top notch star away from a challenge.
At Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, coach Volodymyr Bezsonov has not made wholesale additions to his squad, certain that his current group are one of the best he has had. His optimism was instantly proven right as Dnipro began the season with five consecutive Premier League victories. Striker Alexander Gladkyi arrived from Shakhtar Donetsk and the 23-year-old former league top scorer will hope for more game time at the Dnipro Stadium. Keeper Anton Kanibolotskyi and midfielder Valeriy Fedorchuk both pitched up from Kryvbas Kryvyi and with just these few additions Bezsonov had created a well balanced side, even if he is lacking a little squad depth. Dnipro are targeting a third place finish, but this looks hard if the same eleven players are asked to play week in week out.
Ukraine’s Premier League looks set to provide its fair share of entertainment throughout the season, but already, the top four look clear, even if they are to be split into two banks of two, with Shakhtar and Dynamo fighting for the title, and Metalist and Dnipro for the honour of third spot.
