Rakits'kyy has retired from professional soccer

Former Shakhtar and Ukraine national team defender Yaroslav Rakits'kyy has announced his retirement from professional soccer.

The footballer shared the news on his Instagram page.

“Today I am closing this chapter of my life as a professional soccer player who has won 30 trophies at the highest level. And I will continue to live for soccer in a new role—as a coach or sports official,” Rakits’kyi wrote.

The footballer noted that soccer had been his life for 30 years and thanked the fans, coaches, teammates, and the clubs he played for.

Rakits’kyi also expressed special gratitude to his first coach, Pavlo Dulinov, Valeriy Yaremchenko, Mircea Lucescu, and Shakhtar President Rinat Akhmetov.

Yaroslav Rakits’kyi is a product of Donetsk’s Shakhtar, for whom he played 358 matches, scored 18 goals, and recorded 35 assists. As part of the “Miners,” he won the Ukrainian championship 10 times, the Ukrainian Cup seven times, and the Super Cup six times.

The defender also played for St. Petersburg’s Zenit, and returned to Ukraine after the start of the full-scale war. The last club in his career was Odessa’s Chornomorets.

As a reminder, Villarreal has once again expressed interest in Real Madrid’s Ukrainian goalkeeper Andriy Lunin. The Madrid club is willing to consider selling the 26-year-old goalkeeper only under two conditions: if there is a high offer and if Lunin himself wants to change teams. 

In the summer of 2023, Ukrainian goalkeeper Andriy Lunin effectively scuttled the transfer of Getafe goalkeeper David Soria to Real Madrid.