Nikita Chistyakov

Nikita Chistyakov came up through Anzhi Makhachkala's academy, signing his first professional contract in December 2017 and making his debut for the reserve side, Anzhi-2, the following May. He got his first taste of Russian Premier League football on 10 August 2019, when Anzhi sent him on against Arsenal Tula, and went on to make three appearances for the first team before the move that reshaped his career: a switch to Ural Yekaterinburg the following month.

What followed was less a settled career than a string of loans that took him across the lower and middle tiers of Russian football. Ural farmed him out repeatedly — to Chayka Peschanokopskoye, then Akron Togliatti, where he scored once in 22 appearances, then Tyumen and Sibir Novosibirsk. He also turned out for Ural's own reserve side during that stretch.

The defender's game found more of a home once he left Ural for good. At Forte Taganrog he was a regular, and at Tekstilshchik Ivanovo he became a fixture at the back, playing dozens of matches and adding three goals to his tally. That run earned him a move to Shinnik Yaroslavl, where he has continued in the Russian First League, making nine appearances so far.

Chistyakov's representative honours have stayed at youth level: caps for Russia's under-17, under-18, under-19 and under-20 sides, including a run of four appearances for the under-20s. Comfortable on either foot, he has mostly featured at left-back and centre-back as his clubs have shuffled him around the back line.