# Viktor Kovalenko (footballer)

Viktor Viktorovych Kovalenko (Ukrainian: Ві́ктор Ві́кторович Ковале́нко; born 14 February 1996) is a Ukrainian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Italian Serie A club Empoli and the Ukraine national team.

## Club career
### Shakhtar Donetsk

Kovalenko is product of youth team of Shakhtar Donetsk. He made his début in the Ukrainian Premier League for Shakhtar in the game against Vorskla Poltava on 28 February 2015. On 9 May 2015, he made his first direct contribution for the first team when assisting the fifth and sixth goals for Shakhtar in a 7–3 win over Hoverla Uzhhorod.
On 20 February 2020, Kovalenko scored the winning goal in Shakhtar's 2–1 win against Benfica in the first leg of their Europa League Round of 32 clash.
On 17 October 2020, Kovalenko scored twice in the first 18 minutes of Shakhtar's 5–1 hammering of FC Lviv in the Ukrainian Premier League.

### Atalanta

On 1 February 2021, with less than six months remaining in his contract with Shakhtar, Kovalenko signed a four-and-a-half-year deal with Serie A club Atalanta for a reported fee of €700,000. He made his debut for the club on 21 March, as an 87th-minute substitute for fellow countryman Ruslan Malinovskyi in a Serie A 2–0 win at Verona.

#### Loans to Spezia

On 8 August 2021, Kovalenko joined fellow Serie A side Spezia on a season-long loan.
On 2 August 2022, he returned to Spezia on another loan, with Spezia holding an obligation to buy if the club avoids relegation.

### Release by Atalanta

Kovalenko was released from his contract by Atalanta in August 2024 at the end of the summer transfer window.

### Empoli

On 11 February 2025, Kovalenko sign for Empoli for a free transfer after being released.

## International career

Kovalenko was called up by Ukraine to play in the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand. He scored two goals in a 6–0 victory over Myanmar and added a hat-trick against the United States to secure 3–0 win at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland, as the team reached the round of 16. He won the Golden Boot of the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup with five goals.

## Career statistics
### Club

    As of match played 12 November 2023.
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition :
| Club | Season | League | League | League | National Cup | National Cup | Europe | Europe | Other | Other | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Shakhtar Donetsk | 2014–15 | Ukrainian Premier League | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Shakhtar Donetsk | 2015–16 | Ukrainian Premier League | 23 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 46 | 4 |
| Shakhtar Donetsk | 2016–17 | Ukrainian Premier League | 28 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 38 | 10 |
| Shakhtar Donetsk | 2017–18 | Ukrainian Premier League | 27 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 37 | 5 |
| Shakhtar Donetsk | 2018–19 | Ukrainian Premier League | 25 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 37 | 7 |
| Shakhtar Donetsk | 2019–20 | Ukrainian Premier League | 17 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 2 |
| Shakhtar Donetsk | 2020–21 | Ukrainian Premier League | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 4 |
| Shakhtar Donetsk | Total | Total | 130 | 23 | 18 | 3 | 48 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 200 | 32 |
| Atalanta | 2020–21 | Serie A | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 |
| Spezia (loan) | 2021–22 | Serie A | 26 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 27 | 1 |
| Spezia (loan) | 2022–23 | Serie A | 19 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 20 | 0 |
| Empoli (loan) | 2023–24 | Serie A | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 4 | 1 |
| Career total | Career total | Career total | 180 | 25 | 20 | 3 | 48 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 252 | 34 |
* ↑ Seven appearances in UEFA Champions League, eight appearances and two goals in UEFA Europa League
* ↑ Appearances in UEFA Europa League
* 1 2 Appearances in UEFA Champions League
* ↑ Six appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League
* ↑ Five appearances in UEFA Champions League, four appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League

### International

    As of 11 November 2021
Appearances and goals by national team and year :
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
| Ukraine | 2016 | 10 | 0 |
| Ukraine | 2017 | 6 | 0 |
| Ukraine | 2018 | 4 | 0 |
| Ukraine | 2019 | 6 | 0 |
| Ukraine | 2020 | 4 | 0 |
| Ukraine | 2021 | 3 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 33 | 0 |

## Honours

Shakhtar Donetsk
* Ukrainian Premier League: 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20
* Ukrainian Cup: 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19
* Ukrainian Super Cup: 2015, 2017
Individual
* FIFA World Youth Championship Golden Shoe: 2015
* Ukrainian Premier League Best young player: 2015–16
* Top Golden talent: 2015 (U-19), 2016 (U-21)