Aleksey Berdnikov

Aleksey Berdnikov signed for FC Chelyabinsk in January 2026 as a free agent after terminating his contract with Arsenal Tula, where he had spent a year and a half. A right-footed defender, he was born in Solnechnodolsk in Stavropol Krai, and his path to professional football began locally, with Dynamo GTS Stavropol and then Dynamo Stavropol before he moved into higher-tier football.

A move to Mordovia Saransk in the summer of 2016 did not work out — he left within a year without making a league appearance for the club. He found more stable footing at Zenit Penza before a longer spell at Volgar Astrakhan, where he stayed for four seasons. That consistency continued at Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk, where he also spent three years, before he joined Arsenal Tula in the summer of 2024.

Berdnikov has not been called up to the Russian national team at any level, and his career has largely developed away from the country's top flight, built instead on lengthy stints at clubs further down the football pyramid. The move to Chelyabinsk marks a new chapter for the 30-year-old defender.