Aleksandr Chernikov

Everything in Aleksandr Chernikov's career has happened inside one structure. He joined the FC Krasnodar academy and moved up through the club's second and third teams — 57 appearances for Krasnodar-2, three for Krasnodar-3 — before stepping into the first team in 2019. Every one of those moves was a free transfer within the same organisation. He was born in Vyselki, in Krasnodar Krai.

The 2024/25 season was the one that changed his standing. He made 26 league appearances and scored twice as Krasnodar won the Russian Premier League for the first time, and he was named second best player of the Russian championship on the 33 best players list. In the same year he was given the title of Best Athlete of the Krasnodar Territory. The club had already come close and kept coming close: silver in 2023/24, silver again in 2025/26, bronze in 2019/20, and two Russian Cup finals lost — the second of them to Spartak Moscow on penalties.

He signed a contract extension in June 2024 running to 2029. He wore number 53 for the first team from 2019 to 2022 before switching to 8, though the older number has stuck to him in official listings.

Chernikov came through the Russian youth sides from under-16 to under-21 and made his senior debut on 20 November 2023, in an 8–0 friendly win over Cuba. He has five caps. The goal came a year later, on 15 November 2024, against Brunei in an 11–0 win.