Nicky Serghei Cleșcenco

Nicky Cleșcenco was born in Dublin and started out at Dacia Buiucani in Moldova before moving through Sporting CP into the senior set-up at União de Leiria in Portugal. A free transfer took him to FC Sion II in Switzerland in February 2021, where he spent four seasons in the Promotion League without ever making the step up to Sion's first team, scoring eight goals in 35 league appearances for the reserves.

His breakthrough came back home. On loan at FC Petrocub Hîncești from 2023, Cleșcenco scored eight goals in 24 league games and won both the Moldovan Super Liga and the Moldovan Cup in the 2023/24 season. He moved on to FC Zimbru Chișinău in February 2025, where 20 appearances and four goals kept him firmly on the radar before Kilmarnock signed him on a permanent 18-month deal in January 2026.

At Kilmarnock he made an immediate mark in the Scottish Premiership, scoring nine appearances into two goals in his first half-season, including strikes against Livingston and Ayr United. He has continued that form into the following campaign, netting in the League Cup against Ayr United and earning an 8.0 FotMob rating for his display away at Livingston, a game Kilmarnock won 4-1.

Internationally, Cleșcenco is a Moldova regular, having made his debut against Turkey in June 2021 and gone on to win eight caps for his country, though he is yet to open his scoring account at that level.