Nichita Moțpan

Nichita Moțpan scored on his senior debut for Moldova, opening the scoring in a UEFA Nations League match against Latvia in June 2022 that ended in a 2–4 defeat. It was the first sign that the midfielder from Bălți could handle the step up, adding goals in friendlies against Azerbaijan and Cyprus on the way to more than thirty caps.

His path to that stage ran through Russia. Moțpan spent two years as a teenager in the Rubin Kazan academy before returning home to finish his development at Zaria Bălți. He made his senior breakthrough at FC Bălți, where over three seasons he scored 20 goals in 56 appearances as an attacking midfielder, numbers that explain why a loan to Hapoel Haifa in Israel followed, even if that spell brought only four appearances.

The move that shaped his career came in 2023, when Fakel Voronezh paid a fee in the region of €150,000–€200,000 to bring him to the Russian Premier League. Goals proved harder to come by at that level: across 73 appearances in the number 11 shirt, Moțpan scored just once. He helped the club to the silver medals in the 2024/2025 Russian First League and an immediate return to the top flight.

That promotion did not keep him at the club. In July 2026, Moțpan left Fakel Voronezh as a free agent and signed for SKA-Khabarovsk, another First League side, on a contract running to the summer of 2027.