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Denis OleynikUkrainian football player, midfielder
Date of Birth: 16.06.1987
Country:  Ukraine |
Content:
- Biography of Denis Oleynik
- Club Career: Dynamo Kyiv, Loan Spells, and Metalist Kharkiv
- Stints in the Eredivisie and Bundesliga
- Continued Career and Return to the Ukrainian Premier League
- International Career
Biography of Denis Oleynik
Early Life and CareerDenis Oleynik is a Ukrainian footballer who played as a midfielder for the Ukrainian club "Vorskla". He was born in Zaporizhia, where his father, Viktor Oleynik, also played football. Denis began playing football in Chernivtsi, where his family moved shortly after his birth. He trained at the SDYUSH "Bukovyna" under the guidance of coaches Yuriy Kraft, Valeriy Semyonov, and Dmitry Gordey. He grew up playing for the local team "Bukovyna" and frequently attended training sessions and away matches with his father, who was a legendary figure at the club. Denis later moved to Kyiv, where he played for local teams "Smena-Obolon" and "Kyiv-Vostok" in the Youth Football League of Ukraine. He then joined the structure of Kyiv's "Dynamo" under the coaching of Viktor Kashchei.
Club Career: Dynamo Kyiv, Loan Spells, and Metalist Kharkiv
During his time at Dynamo Kyiv, Oleynik played for the second, third, and youth teams, appearing in a total of 110 matches and scoring 33 goals from 2004 to 2008. He made his debut for the first team in the Ukrainian Premier League on October 26, 2006, in a match against "Kharkiv" (0:2). He played a total of 5 official matches for the first team, scoring 2 goals. In the 2007/08 and 2008/09 seasons, he went on loan to top division clubs "Neftyanik-Ukrnafta" and "Arsenal" (Kyiv) to gain more playing experience. After his loan spells, Oleynik's contract with Dynamo Kyiv was terminated, and he was sold to "Metalist" Kharkiv in late 2008.
In January 2009, Oleynik joined "Metalist" Kharkiv and made his debut for the club on February 18, 2009, in a UEFA Cup match against Italian side "Sampdoria". He scored his debut goal in the same match, which turned out to be the only goal and secured victory for his team. He scored his first hat-trick while playing for "Metalist" on October 24, 2010, in an away match against "Illichivets" (1:4), scoring in the 40th, 41st, and 70th minutes. He scored another hat-trick a year later while playing for "Dnipro" on October 16, 2011, against "Obolon" (1:4). This hat-trick was the first in the Ukrainian Premier League in the 2011/12 season. Oleynik joined "Dnipro" in the summer of 2011 for a transfer fee of approximately €7-10 million. During his time at "Dnipro," he played a total of 131 official matches and scored 34 goals under the guidance of coaches Myron Markevych and Juande Ramos.
Stints in the Eredivisie and Bundesliga
In 2014, Oleynik moved to Dutch club "Vitesse" and made his debut in the Eredivisie on August 10, 2014, against "Ajax". He became a regular starter in the team's starting lineup during his first season, and under the guidance of Peter Bos, the team finished in 5th place in the league and successfully qualified for the UEFA Europa League. After two seasons, Oleynik left "Vitesse" in May 2016, having scored 10 goals in 61 official matches for the club.
On August 9, 2016, Oleynik joined German Bundesliga club "Darmstadt 98" as a free agent. However, he only played 4 matches and scored 1 goal due to injuries. He left the club in the summer of 2017.
Continued Career and Return to the Ukrainian Premier League
After being a free agent since the summer of 2017, Oleynik trained with "Kolos" and "Olimpik" Donetsk. There were reports of interest from "Karpaty" and "Rukh" regarding his signing. However, on October 5 of the same year, he signed a contract with "Desna" Chernihiv, which was initially valid until the end of the first part of the season with an option for possible extension. After his contract with "Desna" expired, he left the club. On March 15, 2018, he signed a contract with "Helios" Kharkiv, where he played for less than two months. In the 2017/18 season, he played 10 matches for teams in the Ukrainian First League. In July 2018, he signed a contract until the end of the current season with an option for an extension with Finnish club "SJK." He played for the Finnish team until 2022, appearing in over 100 official matches (94 matches and 23 goals in the league and 22 matches and 6 goals in cup competitions). He then returned to Ukraine and signed a contract with Ukrainian Premier League club "Vorskla" (Poltava). Oleynik made his debut for "Vorskla" on August 23, 2022, in a match against "Zorya" Luhansk (1:3), where he also scored his debut goal, which turned out to be the only goal for his team in that match.
International Career
Oleynik represented the Ukrainian youth national teams, playing 33 matches and scoring 4 goals. He participated in the UEFA U-17 Championship in 2004. From 2006 to 2008, he played for the Ukrainian U-21 national team, appearing in 18 matches and scoring 5 goals.
He received his first call-up to the senior Ukrainian national team in May 2010 and made his debut on May 25, 2010, in a friendly match against the Lithuanian national team (4:0). His last international appearance came on June 9, 2015, in a friendly match against the Georgian national team (2:1). In total, Oleynik played 12 matches for the Ukrainian national team out of 20 called-up matches. Although he did not score any goals, he recorded 2 assists in a match against the Luxembourg national team.
