Oleksandr Karavaev

Oleksandr Karavaev spent twelve years in Shakhtar Donetsk's system without ever making a senior appearance for the main squad, working his way through loan spells instead — first at Shakhtar-3 Donetsk, then Sevastopol, then Zorya Luhansk, where 66 appearances and 16 goals convinced the club to sign him permanently in 2017. At Zorya he became captain, was named Player of the Match three times in the Ukrainian Premier League across successive seasons, and was picked for the league's Team of the Season in 2016/17.

The move to Dynamo Kyiv in 2019, for a reported fee of around €2.5 million, turned him into a fixture at right-back over seven seasons and 149 league appearances. He won the Ukrainian Premier League twice, the Ukrainian Cup three times and the Super Cup twice with the club. His clearest moment in Dynamo colours came in a Champions League qualifier against Fenerbahçe in 2022, when he scored the decisive goal in extra time to send Dynamo into the group stage. A year earlier, he had been rated the team's best player in a narrow 0-1 defeat to Barcelona.

For Ukraine, Karavaev made his senior debut in 2015 and has since passed fifty caps, scoring against Japan, Armenia and North Macedonia. He was part of the squads for Euro 2016 and Euro 2020. He has featured mainly as a right-back or right wing-back, with occasional spells further forward in midfield.