Maksim Chalkin

Maksim Chalkin came to organised football late. He was 15 when he started at a sports school in Panfilovo affiliated with CSKA, and the professional route that followed was a long one, with a new club in most seasons.

CSKA Almaty registered him in 2015 without giving him an official appearance. He found regular football the next year at Ruzaevka, where he played 22 matches and scored once. A season at Kaspiy Aktau followed, with 21 matches, before he signed for Zhetysu in January 2018.

The Zhetysu years were the longest stretch of his career, and most of them were spent away from the senior side. He played for the reserve teams, Zhetysu B from 2018 to 2020, where he made 51 appearances and scored one goal, and then Zhetysu M, with 13 appearances. His first Premier League match came on 27 June 2021. Over the whole spell he made five first-team appearances: one in the Kazakhstan Cup in 2019, one in the league in 2021 and three in the league in 2022. He did not score for the first team.

In July 2022 he moved to Igilik and played 13 matches there, scoring twice.

On 15 March 2023 he joined Ulytau as a free agent on a contract running until 31 December 2026. Each of his moves has been made on a free transfer.