Alexei Eremenko

Alexei Eremenko (born Aleksei Alekseyevich Yeryomenko; Russian: Алексей Алексеевич Ерёменко; born 24 March 1983) is a former professional footballer. He is from a footballing family, with his father, Alexei Eremenko Sr., and brother Roman Eremenko also playing professionally.

For other people named Alexei Eremenko, see Alexei Eremenko (disambiguation).

In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming conventions, the patronymic is Alekseyevich and the family name is Eremenko.
Alexei Eremenko
Eremenko playing for Saturn Moscow in 2009
Personal information
Full name Aleksei Alekseyevich Yeryomenko
Date of birth (1983-03-24) 24 March 1983
Place of birth Rostov-on-Don, Soviet Union
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Youth career
1990–1997 FF Jaro
1998 Tromsø IL
1999 HJK
2000–2001 Metz
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001 FC Jokerit 15 (2)
2002–2004 HJK 60 (10)
2004–2006 Lecce 35 (0)
2006–2009 Saturn 76 (8)
2009–2011 Metalist Kharkiv 10 (0)
2010 → FF Jaro (loan) 16 (7)
2010–2011 → Kilmarnock (loan) 31 (4)
2011–2013 Rubin Kazan 7 (0)
2013 Kairat Almaty 14 (0)
2014–2015 Kilmarnock 38 (5)
2015 FF Jaro 11 (0)
2016 SJK Seinäjoki 5 (0)
2017 Spartak Helsinki 1 (1)
Total 304 (35)
International career
2003–2013 Finland 57 (14)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Eremenko was born in Rostov-on-Don in the Soviet Union, but grew up in Finland. He made his breakthrough with HJK in 2002, and became known as versatile midfielder and a set piece specialist. A mediocre spell with Italian club Lecce followed, before he came to prominence at Russian club Saturn. He moved to Metalist Kharkiv in 2009, but was loaned out twice, especially impressing with Kilmarnock where he was nominated for the 2010–11 Players' Player of the Year award. He returned to the club on a permanent deal in January 2014. After failing to negotiate a contract extension, he played in Finland until retiring from football in 2017.

Eremenko represented Finland between 2003 and 2013, and was a key player for the team in 2006 World Cup qualifying, scoring seven goals, four of which came from free kicks. He ended his international career with 57 caps in which he scored 14 goals.

Early life

Eremenko was born in Rostov-on-Don, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union but moved to Finland with his family at the age of seven when his father, former FC Dynamo Moscow and FC Spartak Moscow player Alexei Eremenko Sr., came to play in Finland with FF Jaro. He was granted Finnish citizenship in 2003, but still holds a Russian passport as well. He is the elder brother of fellow footballers Roman Eremenko and Sergei Eremenko.[1]

Club career

Eremenko spent some time with Tromsø IL in Norway (his father played for the senior team, he himself played for the under-fifteen team) and with the youth academy of FC Metz in France, before returning to Finland to make his Veikkausliiga debut with FC Jokerit in 2001. A trial with Aston Villa followed, but in the next season he moved to HJK, and eventually became the league's top player. He won two Finnish championships and one Finnish Cup with HJK. In the summer of 2004, Eremenko moved abroad, joining Italian Serie A club U.S. Lecce. After failing to make a major breakthrough at Lecce, he moved to FC Saturn on a four-year deal in January 2006 transfer window, becoming a key player for the Russian side.

Metalist Kharkiv

On 29 July 2009, Eremenko signed a three-year contract with the Ukrainian club FC Metalist Kharkiv, and [2] scored his first goal in his debut game against HNK Rijeka.

Jaro (loan)

On 12 March 2010, it was announced that Eremenko had been traded back to his first club, FF Jaro, for the 2010 season[3] (his father was the club's manager at the time). He managed to score on his debut, in a Finnish League Cup game against JJK on 20 March 2010. He also continued scoring in Veikkausliiga's opening match against FC Lahti, scoring on a rebound after his unsuccessful penalty kick.

Kilmarnock (loan)

On 30 August 2010, it was announced that Eremenko had been loaned to Mixu Paatelainen's Kilmarnock until the end of the season.[4] He scored on his debut in a 2–1 victory over St Mirren. On 5 March 2011, Eremenko was given his second straight red card of the season against Hearts at Tynecastle after an off the ball altercation with the opposition captain Marius Zaliukas.[5] On 11 April, Eremenko stated that he wanted to end his career at Rugby Park.[6] Eremenko was nominated for the 2010–11 Players' Player of the Year award, losing out to Celtic's Emilio Izaguirre.[7]

After returning from his loan spell, Metalist Kharkiv told him he could leave, where he then stated that he had received bids from an English Championship club and a Russian club, with reports that Scottish Old Firm duo Celtic and Rangers were interested in signing him.[8] The Championship club was later reported to be the Welsh club Cardiff City.[9] Brighton & Hove Albion, a fellow Championship club, were also believed to be interested in signing him.[10] On 15 July 2011, it was reported in a Finnish newspaper that Eremenko was signing for Leeds United, but the transfer was delayed due to a cancelled flight, which prevented him from linking up with the squad in Scotland.

Rubin Kazan

On 30 August 2011, Eremenko signed a contract with Russian club Rubin Kazan alongside his younger brother Roman.[11]

Kairat

In June 2013 Kairat signed Eremenko on a free transfer from Rubin Kazan.[12] He terminated his contract with Kairat on 26 November 2013.[13]

Kilmarnock return

On 28 January 2014, it was announced that Eremenko had re-joined Kilmarnock until the end of the 2013–14 season.[14] On 7 August 2014, he signed a new contract at Kilmarnock, keeping him at the club for the 2014–15 season.[15] At the end of that season, Eremenko left the club after failing to agree to the terms on a new contract.[16]

Jaro (second spell)

On 7 August 2015, Eremenko signed again for FF Jaro, agreeing to a contract until the end of the 2015 Veikkausliiga season, with the contract also containing a clause allowing him to move abroad should he receive a suitable offer.[17]

SJK

On 26 January 2016, Eremenko moved to SJK.[18] After just over three months, Eremenko left SJK on 4 May 2016 due to personal reasons.[19]

International career

Eremenko made his debut for the Finnish national team on 11 October 2003 against Canada. He was a key player for Finland in 2006 World Cup qualifying, scoring seven goals, four of which came from free kicks. He shared the third position among the top scorers in the group, along with Adrian Mutu, but behind Jan Koller and Ruud van Nistelrooy who both scored nine goals.

Career statistics

International
As of 17 June 2013[20]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Finland 200330
2004107
200583
200650
200782
200820
200981
201050
201151
201230
201310
Total5714

International goals

As of 15 November 2011.[21]

  Win   Draw   Loss

Honours

Club

HJK Helsinki

Rubin Kazan

Individual

References
  1. "FIFA clears Russia switch for Finnish teenager Eremenko". 24 April 2018.
  2. Алексей Еременко – игрок Металлиста!. metallist.kharkov.ua
  4. http://www.iltalehti.fi/jalkapallo/2010083012263663_jp.shtml(in+Finnish)
  5. "Kilmarnock win 2–0 and Eremenko Sent Off". BBC News. 5 March 2011. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
  6. "Alexei Eremenko: I love life at Kilmarnock and would like to end my career at Rugby Park". The Daily Record. 11 April 2011. Retrieved 11 April 2011.
  7. "Emilio Izaguirre wins Scotland's players' player prize". BBC Sport. 1 May 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
  8. "English clubs join Celtic and Rangers in race to sign Alexei Eremenko". The Daily Record. 4 June 2011. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
  9. Terry Phillips (9 July 2011). "Bluebirds target Alexei Eremenko". South Wales Echo. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
  10. "Money may deter Alexei Eremenko from Old Firm Switch". STV. 12 July 2011. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
  11. "Going, going, gone... Finnish footballers making moves as transfer deadline looms". HELSINGIN SANOMAT. 31 August 2011. Archived from the original on 10 June 2012. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
  12. "Eremenko Kazakstaniin". Iltalehti. 12 June 2013. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
  13. С АЛЕКСЕЕМ ЕРЕМЕНКО РАСТОРГНУТ КОНТРАКТ. fckairat.kz/ (in Russian). Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  14. "Eremenko Returns to Kilmarnock". expressi. 28 January 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  15. "Eremenko Signs Up For 2014/15". Kilmarnock F.C. 7 August 2014. Archived from the original on 13 January 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2014.
  16. Crawford, Kenny (25 May 2015). "Kilmarnock: Alexei Eremenko exit likely after 'unacceptable' offer". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  17. "FF Jaro signs Alexei Eremenko Jr until rest of the season". Football Finland. 7 August 2015. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  18. "Alexei Eremenko jr. SJK-paitaan". www.sjk2007.fi (in Finnish). SJK. 26 January 2016. Archived from the original on 5 February 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  19. "Alexei Eremenkon ja SJK:n tiet erkanevat". sjk2007.fi (in Finnish). SJK. 4 May 2016. Archived from the original on 26 May 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  20. (in Finnish) Alexei Eremenko jr. | Suomen Palloliitto Archived 13 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Palloliitto.fi. Retrieved on 1 May 2015.
  21. The national team on the Finnish Football Association’s website Archived 9 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine (in Finnish)
  22. Rakas jalkapallo: sata vuotta suomalaista jalkapalloa, p. 402–403. Edited by Yrjö Lautela and Göran Wallén; written by Yrjö Lautela ... [et al.]. Helsinki: Teos, 2007. ISBN 978-951-851-068-3 (hardcover).
  23. Jalkapallokirja 2010, ('Football Yearbook') p. 50. Ed. by Heidi Soininen. Publication of the Football Association of Finland. Vol. 50. ISSN 0787-7188.
  24. "Clydsedale Bank Player Of The Month". Archived from the original on 17 January 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
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