Arsen Zakharyan (; ; born 26 May 2003) is a Russian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for club

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...

and the Russia national team.

Early life

Zakharyan was born in

Samara Samara, formerly known as Kuybyshev (1935–1991), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast in Russia. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara (Volga), Samara rivers, with a population of over 1.14 ...

, Russia into an ethnic

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

family. Arsen's parents moved from

Martakert Martakert (, , also , ) or Aghdara ( ) is a town in the Aghdara District of Azerbaijan, in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Until 2023 it was controlled by the breakaway Republic of Artsakh, as the centre of its Martakert Province. The villa ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

to Russia after the First Karabakh War (1992–1994).

Club career

Dynamo Moscow

2020–21 season

Zakharyan made his debut in the

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

for

Dynamo Moscow MGO VFSO "Dynamo" (), commonly known as Dynamo Moscow (), is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. Founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky on 18 April 1923, Dynamo Moscow was the first institution created from the All-Union Dynamo Sports Club. Dynamo Mosco ...

on 1 November 2020, in a game against

FC Tambov FC Tambov () was a Russian football team from Tambov. It last played in the Russian Premier League, having won promotion to the top division of Russian football in 2019, before dissolving in 2021. History FC Tambov started out on the professional ...

during the 2020–21 season. He made his first starting lineup appearance for Dynamo in the first league game after the winter break, on 28 February 2021, scoring his first goal in a 2–1 away win against

FC Akhmat Grozny Republican Football Club Akhmat (; ), commonly known as Akhmat Grozny, and formerly as Terek Grozny from 1958 to 2017, is a Russian professional Association football, football club based in Grozny that plays in the Russian Premier League. His ...

. He became the third-youngest Dynamo player to score a goal in the Russian Premier League, after Aleksandr Kokorin and Pyotr Nemov. Zakharyan was nominated player of the month for February, March and May 2021 by Dynamo fans based on his performances, including a late winner against

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...

in May. He was voted as player of the 2020–21 season by Dynamo fans, and the

Russian Football Union The Russian Football Union (, ''Rossiyskiy Futbolnyy Soyuz'' or RFS) is the official governing body of association football in the Russian Federation. With headquarters in Moscow, it organizes Russian amateur and professional football, includi ...

(RFS) nominated him best under-21 player of the season.

2021–22 season

Zaharyan's first goal of the 2021–22 season came on 23 July 2021, opening the score in a 2–0 away victory over

FC Rostov FC Rostov () is a Russian professionalism in association football, professional football club based in Rostov-on-Don. The club competes in the Russian Premier League, playing their home matches at the Rostov Arena. History Soviet era (1930-199 ...

; he was also selected as player of the game. On 9 December 2021, the Russian Premier League awarded him as the league's best under-21 player of 2021. Zakharyan was voted player of the season by Dynamo fans for the second season in a row. He also finished second in the vote for the best under-21 player of the league season, losing out to league's top scorer Gamid Agalarov. The RFS also named him best young player and the best left midfielder of the 2021–22 season.

2022–23 season

On 1 September 2022, Dynamo announced that the club received an offer for Zakharyan's transfer from

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club Chelsea on 25 August 2022 and the clubs were negotiating since, but the transfer would not be possible in the summer 2022 transfer window "for a number of technical reasons beyond our control". Dynamo's bank and former owner

VTB Bank VTB Bank (; formerly known as ''Vneshtorgbank'', , lit. 'International Trade Bank') is a Russian majority state-owned bank headquartered in various federal districts of Russia; its legal address is registered as St. Petersburg. As of 2022, ...

was sanctioned by the government of Great Britain in February 2022 following the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. He was voted player of the month by Dynamo fans for September 2022 and October 2022.

2023–24 season

Zakharyan started the season with Dynamo among heavy speculation about his potential transfer to a European club. Russian press reported interest from

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

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PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional association football, football department, which has pla ...

and

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. On 9 August 2023, Zakharyan scored a winning goal from a free-kick deep in added time to give Dynamo 4–3 victory over

FC Krasnodar FC Krasnodar is a Russian professional football club based in Krasnodar that plays in the Russian Premier League. They are the league's reigning champions. The club was founded in 2008. In 2009, the club was promoted to the Russian First Divis ...

in a Russian Cup game. For the next league game against Baltika Kaliningrad on 13 August, Zakharyan was not included in the matchday squad and watched the game from the stands. Dynamo president Pavel Pivovarov announced that the transfer terms between Dynamo and Spanish club

as well as the personal contract terms have been agreed on, and the transfer would become official upon the medical examination.

Real Sociedad

On 19 August 2023,

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

club

announced the signing of Zakharyan on a contract until 30 June 2029. The transfer fee was €12 million, with Dynamo retaining 10% of any future transfer fee. On 15 March 2024, Zakharyan scored his first goal for the club in a 2–0 league win over

Cádiz Cádiz ( , , ) is a city in Spain and the capital of the Province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula off the Atlantic Ocean separated fr ...

. He played 40 games across all competitions in his first season, totalling over 1,800 minutes on the pitch. During pre-season in July 2024, Zakharyan suffered a right ankle tendon injury and did not return to the pitch until 2 February, 253 days after his last match. Three weeks later, he scored the first goal of a 3–0 home win over

Leganés Leganés () is a city in the Community of Madrid, Spain. Considered part of the Madrid metropolitan area, it is located about 11 km southwest of the centre of Madrid. , it has a population of 188,425, making it the region's fifth most popu ...

, but left the game with a right-leg muscular injury at half time. In March, he missed Real Sociedad's trip to

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in the last 16 of the Europa League, having not been granted a visa to enter the United Kingdom.

International career

Youth

On 15 March 2021, Zakharyan was selected for Russia U21's squad for the

2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-21 Euro 2021) was the 23rd edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship (26th edition if the Under-23 era is also included), the biennial international youth Association ...

. He had previously represented Russia up to the under-17s and became the youngest player on Russia's squad. In his debut on 25 March 2021, in the opening game against

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, Zakharyan was fouled in the penalty box in the 31st minute, and Russia opened scoring from the penalty kick. In the added time of the first half he scored his first goal to make the score 3–0, with the game eventually ending with a 4–1 victory for Russia. Zakharyan became the youngest goalscorer for Russia U21, and the youngest goalscorer in the history of the

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...

, overtaking Yari Verschaeren.

Senior

On 11 May 2021, Zakharyan received his first call-up to the senior Russia team, and was included in the preliminary extended 30-man squad for

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international men's association footb ...

. He suffered a

tonsillitis Tonsillitis is inflammation of the tonsils in the upper part of the throat. It can be acute or chronic. Acute tonsillitis typically has a rapid onset. Symptoms may include sore throat, fever, enlargement of the tonsils, trouble swallowing, and en ...

infection in camp and was not included in the final squad. Zakharyan made his debut for the senior squad on 1 September 2021, in a 2022 World Cup qualifier against

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. He started the game and was substituted in the second half, as the game ended in a 0–0 draw. He became the youngest

outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In bat and ball games ...

player in Russian national team history, aged , overtaking

Alan Dzagoev Alan Yelizbarovich Dzagoev (, ; ; romanized as Dzagoyev; born 17 June 1990) is a Russian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. After joining Akademiya Tolyatti in 2006, he remained there for two seasons before transferring ...

. Zakharyan also became the second-youngest national team player overall, behind goalkeeper

Igor Akinfeev Igor Vladimirovich Akinfeev ( rus, Игорь Владимирович Акинфеев, Igor' Vladimirovich Akinfeyev, p=ˈiɡərʲ vlɐˈdʲimʲɪrəvʲɪtɕ ɐkʲɪnˈfʲe(j)ɪf; born 8 April 1986) is a Russian professional footballer who pla ...

. Both his and Akinfeev's records were beaten by Sergei Pinyayev in 2022.

Style of play

Zakharyan is a versatile player and is deployed in multiple offensive positions, as a

wide midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

on either flank,

central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. In some games he switches positions throughout the game as the tactics demand. His characteristics, such as his finishing, passing ability and playing style, have led Zakharyan to be compared with Belgian international

Kevin De Bruyne Kevin De Bruyne (; born 28 June 1991) is a Belgian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for club SSC Napoli, Napoli and captains the Belgium national football team, Belgium national team. After spending mos ...

. In October 2020, he was chosen as one of the 60 of the best young talents in world football among the players born in 2003 by

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Dynamo Moscow * Russian Cup: runner-up: 2021–22 Individual * Dynamo Moscow Best Player of the Season : 2020–21, 2021–22 * RFS Best Young Player of the Season: 2021–22 *

Left Winger of the Season: 2021–22

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zakharyan, Arsen 2003 births Footballers from Samara, Russia Living people Russian men's footballers Russia men's youth international footballers Russia men's under-21 international footballers Russia men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders FC Dynamo Moscow players Real Sociedad footballers Russian Premier League players Russian Second League players La Liga players Russian sportspeople of Armenian descent Ethnic Armenian sportspeople Russian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Russian expatriate sportspeople in Spain 21st-century Russian sportsmen