Artem Shabanov joins MOL Fehervar FC

Ukrainian and Polish league champion Artem Shabanov will continue his career at Vidi, following an agreement between Dinamo Kiev and our club on Wednesday.

The 29-year-old, 190 cm tall central defender was born on the 7th March 1992 in Kiev. He was brought up in the youth teams of Dinamo Kiev and Arsenal Kiev, making his debut in the Ukrainian top division in September 2013 against Sevastopol, before moving to Voliny Luck, also in the first division, in the winter. The following season he was a regular for Voliny Luck, appearing in 22 league games and scoring his first goal in the Ukrainian top flight. Three years later, he transferred to Stal Kamianské, where he played 13 league games in the spring season.

He started the 2017/2018 season with Olimpik Donetsk, who were already involved in the Europa League qualifiers, but six months later he was signed by Ukraine's biggest club Dinamo Kiev, for whom he made his Europa League debut in the spring of 2018, in the last eight against Lazio. In the summer, he made a Champions League qualifying appearance and then played in three Europa League matches, followed by five more in autumn 2019.

In the 2019/2020 season, he won the Ukrainian Cup and the Ukrainian Super Cup with Dinamo, while he was also a regular in the league, appearing in 28 league matches this season. His side also featured in the Champions League in the 2020/2021 season, making their debut in Europe's most prestigious cup competition against Barcelona at the Camp Nou. He spent the second half of the season on loan at Legia Warsaw in Poland, where he won the league title, and as Dinamo were Ukrainian champions that season, he was part of the team that won league titles in both leagues at the end of the championship year.

He returned to Kiev in the summer of 2021, playing in 6 league games, a cup match and a Champions League group match against Bayern Munich in the autumn. During his career, he has played in 149 Ukrainian and 7 Polish top-flight matches, 17 Ukrainian and 1 Polish cup match, 2 CL and 9 EL matches.

He has played for his country's U18 and U19 national teams, making his debut for the senior Ukraine national team in November 2017 under Andriy Shevchenko, and has been regularly invited to the Ukraine national team since then.

"We wanted to increase the height of our defence, and within that we were looking for a left-footed centre-back. I'm very happy that we managed to sign Artem. I'm confident that with his arrival, apart from his heading play at the front and back becoming a strength for the team, we can also make a lot of progress in terms of game building. We are confident that his international clearance will arrive before the league game on Saturday and we can expect him to play against Debrecen." - said István Sallói, Sport Director, about our new signing.

"I'm very motivated and I come from a team where we have been instilled with a winning mentality and we have been constantly fighting for titles. I have the same goals in Fehérvár, I am a player who wants to win every game. I consider myself a fierce team player, I will do everything to achieve our goals with the team. I have heard good things about the club from my compatriots who play for Vidi and I am sure that they will help me to settle in quickly" said Artem Shabanov after signing the contract.

Our club has bought the playing rights of Artem Shabanov, the defender has signed a two and a half year contract with MOL Fehérvár FC.