Off-season in the UPL: newcomers to Shakhtar and Dynamo, strengthening of Polissya, new coaches at LNZ and Inhulets

Clubs of the Ukrainian Premier League recently began preparing for the new season. Here are the latest news from our teams' camps.

Off-season in the UPL: newcomers to Shakhtar and Dynamo, strengthening of Polissya, new coaches at LNZ and Inhulets

Photo from fcdynamo.com

On June 24, the summer training camp of«Shakhtar» began. The coaching staff and players, except for those called up to national duty, gathered in Slovenian Brdo. The club signed two newcomers — central defender Ala’a Ghrab (from "Sfaxien," Tunisia) and goalkeeper Kiril Fesun ("Kolos"). Defender Vinícius Tobias also returned to Shakhtar after being on loan at Real Madrid. On June 29, the miners played a friendly match against Bosnian Sarajevo in Ljubljana — winning 4-1. The summer training camp of Donetsk's team in Slovenia will last until July 28.

On June 23, the vacation for the first team players of«Dynamo» ended. Kyivians agreed with Brazilian "Fortaleza" on loaning a 23-year-old Colombian defender Bryan Seballos over the summer. Dynamo will play several friendly matches in Austria, some of which have already been scheduled. The first match is against German Paderborn on July 10. The second one is against German Schalke on July 13, and the third is against Danish Brondby on July 14.

Kryvyi Rih«Kryvbas» came out of its summer vacation, which lasted almost a month, on June 20. On the 28th, Kryvyrizhets played a friendly match against "Ingulets" — winning 3-1. Regarding personnel news, players Semotyuk and Ustimenko, who were loaned to Mykolaiv in the second half of last season, returned to the team's lineup. The second summer camp, which will start on July 2, will be held in Slovenian Brežice.

«Dnipro-1» has not yet come out of its summer vacation. In this offseason, several key players have left the team — Oleksandr Svatak, Oleksandr Pikhalyonok, Ruslan Babenko, Yevhen Volynets, and Oleksiy Hutsulyak.

On June 16 at Polissya's base, the first meeting between players and the new coaching staff led by Imad Ashour took place. The club signed half-backs Oleksiy Hutsulyak and Ruslan Babenko as well as goalkeeper Yevhen Volynets from "Dnipro-1," defenders Danylo Bezkorovainyi from "Kryvbas," Joao Vialle from Brazilian "Ituano," and Georgi Maisuradze from Georgian "Dinamo Tbilisi."

«Rukh» came out of vacation on June 24, and on the 29th played a friendly match against Rivne's «Veres» — winning 4-0. After this, Lvivians headed to Slovenia where they will conduct their second preparation stage for the season. Personnel news: 21-year-old forward Igor Krasnopiyr joined the yellow-and-blacks and signed a long-term contract. Last season he played for Kyiv's «Obolon».

On June 24, Chernihiv's«LNZ» came out of vacation. The team is led by a new coach — Spanish Andres Carrasco, who previously worked with Shakhtar's youth team. In addition, «LNZ» signed defender Illia Putria, who played for "Chornomorets" last season, and Hungarian forward Mark Assinor from Slovakian "Hajdúk."

«Oleksandria» has not yet come out of its summer vacation. In this offseason, one of the key players — half-back Vladyslav Kalytvinets — left the team.

Players from«Vorskla» gathered in Poltava on June 24. Foreigners are not currently participating in training and will join the group later. Instead, a large group of young players moved up from the youth squad to the first team. Vladimir Chesnakov officially joined Vorskla's coaching staff. There is no information about potential new signings at this time.

On June 23, Luhansk«Zorya» began preparing for a new season. The team underwent medical check-ups and trained on the same day. For several days, black-and-whites worked in Kyiv before heading to Slovenia where they will conduct their main training camp in Rogozska Slatina. Regarding personnel news, Slovenian defender Jan Trontel from "Mur" became Zorya's first new signing.

Kovelsky«Kolos» came out of vacation on June 17. The team will prepare for the upcoming Ukrainian championship in Kovelsk, where all conditions are available for full training, recovery and recreation. On June 23, «Kolos» played their first friendly match against "Left Bank" — winning 3-2. Roman Goncharenko (contract expiration) and Andriy Totovitsky (loan return) left the team, while its long-time captain Vadim Mylik ended his football career. In this summer offseason, Kovelskians signed Hungarian Danylo Alefirenko who played on loan at Chornomorets last season.

Players from«Chornomorets» gathered after a month-long break at NTB "Chornomoretz" in Soiviyon 25 June. The main news of the summer offseason is the departure of head coach Roman Grygorchuk who signed with Azerbaijani Neftchi. During preparation for the start of the championship, «Chornomorets» plans to play nine friendlies.

On June 25,«Veres» came out of vacation. On the 28th, red-and-blacks started their training camp. Central defender Roman Goncharenko from «Kolos» will start his new season with Veres.

«Obolon» will begin its training camps on July 1 at its base in Bucha. The coaching staff has planned seven friendlies during the summer offseason. Currently, two newcomers are known — defender Vasyl Kurka from «Veres» and half-back Vadim Vitenchuk from «Mykolaiv».

On June 23,«Ingulets» came out of vacation. The team gathered at the training base in Volodymyrivka village, where they met with the new coaching staff and held their first practice session. New coach for Petryvtsi is Vasyl Kobin who was sports director at Kharkiv's «Metalist» last season. In summer offseason,«Ingulets» signed half-back Roman Volokhaty from Ternopil's «Niva». On June 28, the team played a friendly match against «Kryvbas» — winning 3-1.

On June 25,«Karpaty» came out of vacation. In July, Lvivians have a series of friendly matches scheduled to take place in Lviv and Bartovychi. Regarding personnel news, the club signed goalkeeper Oleksandr Kemkin from «Mykolaiv» and half-back Pablo Alvarado from Bulgarian FC "Cherno More."