Roman Yaremchuk

In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Olehovych and the family name is Yaremchuk.

Roman Yaremchuk
Personal information
Full name Roman Olehovych Yaremchuk
Date of birth (1995-11-27) 27 November 1995 (age 29)
Place of birth Lviv, Ukraine
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)[1]
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
 Olympiacos
Number 17
Youth career
2002–2007 Karpaty Lviv
2007–2012 Dynamo Kyiv
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2017 Dynamo Kyiv 9 (0)
2013–2015 → Dynamo-2 Kyiv 42 (7)
2016 → Oleksandriya (loan) 14 (5)
2017–2021 Gent 121 (47)
2021–2022 Benfica 25 (6)
2022–2024 Club Brugge 25 (2)
2023–2024 → Valencia (loan) 25 (3)
2024– Olympiacos 8 (1)
International career‡
2012 Ukraine U16 1 (0)
2012 Ukraine U17 1 (0)
2012–2013 Ukraine U18 8 (1)
2013–2014 Ukraine U19 12 (1)
2014–2015 Ukraine U21 10 (1)
2018– Ukraine 59 (17)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:30, 16 December 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19 November 2024

Roman Olehovych Yaremchuk (Ukrainian: Рома́н Оле́гович Яремчу́к; born 27 November 1995) is a Ukrainian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Super League Greece side Olympiacos and the Ukraine national team.

After coming through Dynamo Kyiv's youth academy, Yaremchuk began playing for the club's reserve side in 2013 and was promoted to the first team two years later. He was loaned to fellow Ukrainian side Oleksandriya during the 2016–17 season, before moving to Belgian side Gent in 2018. A year later, he moved to Benfica in a transfer worth €18.5 million, before returning to Belgium the following season, to sign for Club Brugge for a transfer worth €16 million.

After representing Ukraine at various youth levels, Yaremchuk was called up to the full international side for the first time in September 2018, and played at UEFA Euro 2020 and Euro 2024.

Club career

Dynamo Kyiv

Early career

Yaremchuk is a product of Karpaty Lviv and Dynamo Kyiv academies. His first coaches were Mykola Dudarenko in Karpaty and Oleksiy Drotsenko in FC Dynamo.[2] On 6 September 2008, he made his debut for Dynamo in Ukrainian National Youth Competition against FC Yunist Chernihiv and scored twice, finishing the season with 21 appearances and 10 goals.[3] He made his debut for FC Dynamo-2 as a second-half substitute against Desna Chernihiv on 14 July 2013 in the Ukrainian First League.

Loan to Oleksandriya

While playing for Oleksandriya in October 2016, Yaremchuk was the first player selected as player of the month in the Ukrainian Premier League.[4] He scored the fastest goal in the history of the league, after seven seconds on 31 October, in a 2–2 draw against Vorskla Poltava.[5]

Gent

In August 2017, Yaremchuk signed a four-year contract with Gent in the Belgian First Division A.[6] He made his debut on 27 August, coming on as an 86th-minute substitute for Mamadou Sylla in a 0–0 home draw with Anderlecht,[7] and scored his first goal on 3 November 2017 in a 1–0 home victory over Standard Liège.[8]

In the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League, Yaremchuk scored three goals for Gent in the group stages, including a brace against VfL Wolfsburg on 24 October, before being eliminated in the round of 32 to Roma 2–1 on aggregate.[9] On 20 January 2020, he had a surgery on an injured Achilles tendon.[10][unreliable source?] The recovery was estimated to take two to three months, ruling him out for the rest of the season.[11][unreliable source?]

During the 2020–21 campaign, Yaremchuk featured in 34 games and ended the season with a career-best 20 league goals and seven assists, including two hat-tricks against Waasland-Beveren on 1 November and Mouscron on 15 February in the regular season.[12] On 15 November 2020, he tested positive for COVID-19.[13]

Benfica

Yaremchuk playing for Benfica in 2021

On 31 July 2021, Benfica announced the signing of Yaremchuk on a five-year deal worth €18.5 million for 75% of his economic rights.[14][15][16] He made his debut on 10 August, creating Benfica's second goal in the 2–0 home victory over Spartak Moscow in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League.[17] Four days later, he made his debut in the Primeira Liga, scoring in a 2–0 home victory over Arouca,[18] and netted a brace in a 3–1 away victory over Vitória de Guimarães.[19] The following matches, Yaremchuk struggled to score goals, being 10 matches scoreless, before scoring his first goal in over three months, the opening goal for Benfica in a 2–0 home victory over his former club Dynamo Kyiv in the club's last UEFA Champions League group match, ensuring his teams' qualification to the round of sixteen.[20][21]

On 23 February 2022, Yaremchuk scored the equaliser in a 2–2 home draw against Ajax, in the first leg of the round of 16 tie of the Champions League. Yaremchuk celebrated his goal by unveiling a shirt with Ukraine's coat of arms on it, as way of supporting his nation amid the previous day's invasion by Russia.[22] Four days later, after coming on as a 62nd-minute substitute for Darwin Núñez, he received the club's captain armband by Jan Vertonghen, before receiving a standing ovation from Benfica's supporters, due to his country's invasion, during a 3–0 home victory against Vitória de Guimarães.[23][24] On 13 April, he scored Benfica's second goal in a 3–3 draw against Liverpool in the second leg of the quarter-finals tie,[25] while his team lost 6–4 on aggregate.[12]

Club Brugge

On 29 August 2022, Club Brugge announced the signing of Yaremchuk on a 4-year deal for a transfer fee of €16 million, plus €3 million in add-ons, with Benfica also receiving 10% of a future transfer, in case Club Brugge received an offer equal or superior to €10 million.[26][27]

International career

Youth

Yaremchuk represented Ukraine at under-16, under-17, under-18, under-19, under-20 and under-21 levels, for a total of 33 youth caps and scoring 4 goals overall. With the under-20s, he participated in the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup, helping Ukraine to a round of 16 finish, after losing to Senegal in a penalty shootout.[28]

Senior

In September 2018, Yaremchuk debuted for the Ukraine national football team in a UEFA Nations League group stage match against the Czech Republic, which Ukraine won 2–1.[29] On 7 June 2019, he scored his first goal for the national team and provided an assist in a 5–0 victory against Serbia in the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifiers.[30]

On 14 October 2019, Yaremchuk scored from close range after an initial save from Rui Patrício, to help Ukraine to a 2–1 home victory over reigning European champions Portugal, leading their qualification to the 2020 UEFA European Championship, on top of their group.[31] In their last qualifier, he scored on 17 November in a 2–2 away draw against Serbia in Belgrade.[32]

Yaremchuk was included in the Ukrainian senior squad for Euro 2020.[33] In its first group stage match, he assisted the first and scored the second goal in a 3–2 loss against the Netherlands at Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam,[34] and scored in a 2–1 victory against North Macedonia at Arena Națională in Bucharest.[35]

Personal life

Yaremchuk married Christina in 2017. Their son was born in 2019.[12] In 2022, following Ukraine's invasion by Russia, Yaremchuck asked fellow Ukraine national teammate Andriy Yarmolenko to help save his wife's parents. Yaremchuck revealed the situation was critical and he didn't even know what to do, so he turned to Andriy Yarmolenko, knowing that he was from Chernihiv, and he helped him and days later his wife's parents were rescued.[36][37][38]

Outside of professional football

In 2022, Yaremchuk raised a fairly large sum for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in particular for the defenders of Chernihiv, and delivered bulletproof vests for the city.[39]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 27 October 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup[b] Europe Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Dynamo-2 Kyiv 2013–14 Ukrainian First League 19 3 — — — 19 3
2014–15 23 4 — — — 23 4
Total 42 7 — — — 42 7
Dynamo Kyiv 2015–16 Ukrainian Premier League 0 0 1 0 — 0 0 1 0
2016–17 9 0 1 0 — 0 0 10 0
Total 9 0 2 0 — 0 0 11 0
Oleksandriya (loan) 2016–17 Ukrainian Premier League 14 5 1 1 — 2[c] 0 17 6
Gent 2017–18 Belgian Pro League 32 9 2 0 — — 34 9
2018–19 37 8 4 3 — 4[c] 1 45 12
2019–20 18 10 1 0 — 11[c] 7 30 17
2020–21 34 20 2 1 — 7[d] 2 43 23
Total 121 47 9 4 — 22 10 152 61
Benfica 2021–22 Primeira Liga 23 6 2 0 4 0 13[e] 3 42 9
2022–23 2 0 0 0 0 0 3[e] 0 5 0
Total 25 6 2 0 4 0 16 3 47 9
Club Brugge 2022–23 Belgian Pro League 23 2 0 0 — 4[e] 0 27 2
2023–24 2 0 0 0 — 2[f] 4 4 4
Total 25 2 0 0 — 6 4 31 6
Valencia (loan) 2023–24 La Liga 25 3 4 1 — — 29 4
Olympiacos 2024–25 Super League Greece 7 1 0 0 — 1[c] 0 8 1
Career total 268 71 18 6 4 0 47 17 337 94
  1. ^ Includes Ukrainian Cup, Belgian Cup, Taça de Portugal, Copa del Rey
  2. ^ Includes Taça da Liga
  3. ^ a b c d Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  4. ^ Two appearances and one goal in UEFA Champions League, five appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
  5. ^ a b c Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  6. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League

International

As of match played 16 November 2024[40]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Ukraine 2018 4 0
2019 8 5
2020 7 1
2021 17 6
2022 6 1
2023 4 0
2024 12 3
Total 58 17
As of match played 21 June 2024. Ukraine score listed first, score column indicates score after each Yaremchuk goal.[41]
List of international goals scored by Roman Yaremchuk
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1 7 June 2019 Arena Lviv, Lviv, Ukraine 8  Serbia 4–0 5–0 UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying
2 10 June 2019 Arena Lviv, Lviv, Ukraine 9  Luxembourg 1–0 1–0 UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying
3 10 September 2019 Dnipro Arena, Dnipro, Ukraine 10  Nigeria 2–2 2–2 Friendly
4 14 October 2019 Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex, Kyiv, Ukraine 11  Portugal 1–0 2–1 UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying
5 17 November 2019 Red Star Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia 12  Serbia 1–1 2–2 UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying
6 14 November 2020 Red Bull Arena, Leipzig, Germany 19  Germany 1–0 1–3 2020–21 UEFA Nations League A
7 31 March 2021 Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex, Kyiv, Ukraine 22  Kazakhstan 1–0 1–1 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
8 7 June 2021 Metalist Stadium, Kharkiv, Ukraine 24  Cyprus 3–0 4–0 Friendly
9 13 June 2021 Johan Cruyff Arena, Amsterdam, Netherlands 25  Netherlands 2–2 2–3 UEFA Euro 2020
10 17 June 2021 Arena Națională, Bucharest, Romania 26  North Macedonia 2–0 2–1 UEFA Euro 2020
11 1 September 2021 Astana Arena, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan 30  Kazakhstan 1–0 2–2 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
12 9 October 2021 Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland 33  Finland 2–1 2–1 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
13 1 June 2022 Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland 37  Scotland 2–0 3–1 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
14 21 March 2024 Bilino Polje Stadium, Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina 47  Bosnia and Herzegovina 1–1 2–1 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying
15 11 June 2024 Zimbru Stadium, Chișinău, Moldova 50  Moldova 1–0 4–0 Friendly
16 21 June 2024 Merkur Spiel-Arena, Düsseldorf, Germany 52  Slovakia 2–1 2–1 UEFA Euro 2024
17 19 November 2024 Arena Kombëtare, Tirana, Albania 58  Albania 2–0 2–1 2024–25 UEFA Nations League

Honours

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Ukraine – R. Yaremchuk – Profile with news, career statistics and history". Soccerway.
  2. ^ "Скаут UA-Футбол. Роман Яремчук" (in Ukrainian). ua-football.com. 1 June 2014.
  3. ^ "Roman Yaremchuk". www.fcdynamo.kiev.ua. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  4. ^ "Роман Яремчук — найкращий гравець Ліги Парі-Матч у жовтні!". 22 November 2016. Archived from the original on 22 November 2016.
  5. ^ "Роман Яремчук забив найшвидший гол в історії української Прем'єр-ліги".
  6. ^ "ROMAN YAREMCHUK SIGNS 4 YEAR CONTRACT". kaagent.be. 16 August 2017. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  7. ^ "Gent vs. Anderlecht – 27 August 2017 – Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  8. ^ "Gent vs. Standard Liege – 3 November 2017 – Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  9. ^ "ROMA-GENT". UEFA. 17 February 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  10. ^ "The leader of the national team of Ukraine "the Terminator" has addressed to fans after surgery". Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  11. ^ "Ukrainian "Buffalo" went under the knife: it has become known, for what term flew Yaremchuk". Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  12. ^ a b c "Who is Roman Yaremchuk? Ukraine's Euro 2020 star wanted by Arsenal".
  13. ^ "Ukrainian Football Players Infected With Coronavirus To Fly Home After 3-1 Loss To Germany". Radio Free Europe. 15 November 2020. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  14. ^ Top 10 most expensive purchases of Benfica in history
  15. ^ "Yaremchuk é do Benfica" (in Portuguese). Benfica. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  16. ^ "Benfica pagou 18,5M€ por Yaremchuk" [Benfica paid €18.5M for Yaremchuk]. Record (in Portuguese). 2 March 2022. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  17. ^ Ribeiro, Patrick (10 August 2021). "João Mário goal sees Benfica through with comfort". PortuGOAL. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  18. ^ "Yaremchuk makes his debut at the start of Benfica and the Portuguese championship" (in Russian). football.ua. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  19. ^ Take in 11 minutes. Yaremchuk played successfully for Benfica
  20. ^ "Oleg Salenko: "Yaremchuk está a passar por um momento de crise"" [Oleg Salenko: "Yaremchuk is going through a moment of crisis"]. Record (in Portuguese). 21 November 2021. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  21. ^ "Yaremchuk: "É sempre bom marcar e especialmente na Champions"" [Yaremchuk: "It's always good to score and especially in the Champions League"]. MaisFutebol (in Portuguese). 8 December 2021. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  22. ^ "Ukraine's Roman Yaremchuk removes shirt to display his nation's coat of arms amid Russian escalation". The Indian Express. 24 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  23. ^ "Watch: Ukrainian striker Yaremchuk moved to tears by ovation from Benfica fans". www.goal.com. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  24. ^ "Ukraine striker Roman Yaremchuk moved to tears by Benfica fans' incredible ovation". GiveMeSport. 27 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  25. ^ "BENFICA DESPEDE-SE COM HONRA (E GOLOS) DIANTE DO LIVERPOOL".
  26. ^ "ROMAN YAREMCHUK NAAR CLUB BRUGGE". clubbrugge.be. 29 August 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  27. ^ "Benfica oficializa venda de Yaremchuk ao Club Brugge: os valores do negócio". Record (in Portuguese). 29 August 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  28. ^ "Ukraine U20 v Senegal U20 game report". FIFA. 10 June 2015. Archived from the original on 10 June 2015.
  29. ^ Роман Яремчук дебютував у збірній України [Roman Yaremchuk debuted in the Ukraine national football team]. 24 Kanal (in Ukrainian). 7 September 2018. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
  30. ^ Україна 5–0 Сербія: відео голів та огляд матчу. TicketsBox (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 23 June 2024. На пас відгукнувся Роман Яремчук – форвард забив дебютний гол за збірну України влучним ударом у "шістку". [As Roman Yaremchuk responded to the pass, the forward scored his debut goal for the Ukrainian national football team with a well-placed shot into the "six".]
  31. ^ "Ukraine 2–1 Portugal". BBC Sport. BBC. 14 October 2019. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  32. ^ "Late equaliser gives Ukraine 2–2 draw in Serbia". EuroNews. 17 November 2019. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
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  34. ^ "Netherlands beat Ukraine in five-goal thriller". BBC Sport. BBC. 13 June 2021.
  35. ^ "Ukraine 2-1 North Macedonia: Round of 16 in Ukraine's sights". UEFA. 17 June 2021. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  36. ^ "Ярмоленко посприяв порятунку батьків дружини Яремчука". www.football24.ua. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  37. ^ "Роман Яремчук: "Ярмоленко допоміг вивезти батьків дружини з Чернігова"". www.ua.tribuna.com. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  38. ^ "Ярмоленко допоміг врятувати батьків дружини Яремчука". www.champion.com.ua. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  39. ^ "Як форвард збірної України допомагав захисникам Чернігова". www.chesport.cn.ua. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  40. ^ "Roman Yaremchuk". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  41. ^ "Roman Yaremchuk". EU-Football.info. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
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