Nerijus Valskis

Nerijus Valskis

Valskis with Bnei Yehuda in 2017
Personal information
Full name	Nerijus Valskis [1]
Date of birth	(1987-08-04) 4 August 1987 (age 36)
Place of birth	Klaipėda, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
2004–2005	Polonia Vilnius
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2005	Žalgiris Vilnius	11	(0)
2006	Kauno Jėgeriai
2007–2008	Šilutė	37	(4)
2008	FBK Kaunas	10	(1)
2009	Smorgon	12	(0)
2010	FBK Kaunas	24	(16)
2011	Liepājas Metalurgs	27	(8)
2012	Minsk	10	(0)
2012–2013	Sūduva	38	(29)
2014	Universitatea Craiova	15	(2)
2015	Wigry Suwałki	5	(0)
2015–2016	Trakai	43	(24)
2017–2018	Bnei Yehuda	49	(11)
2018	Ratchaburi Mitr Phol	15	(9)
2019	Hapoel Tel Aviv	10	(1)
2019–2020	Chennaiyin	20	(15)
2020–2021	Jamshedpur	24	(10)
2022	Chennaiyin	11	(2)
2022–2024	Kauno Žalgiris	25	(8)
International career
2007–2008	Lithuania U21	6	(1)
2013–2024	Lithuania	25	(1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Nerijus Valskis (born 4 August 1987) is a Lithuanian former professional footballer who played as a forward.

Club career

Earlier career

Valskis began his senior club career in 2005 at FK Žalgiris of Lithuanian A Lyga, where he made 11 appearances before moving to Kauno Jėgeriai. During 2007–2008 season, he appeared for FK Šilutė and scored 4 goals in 37 league matches. He later moved to another A Lyga outfit FBK Kaunas, where he scored 17 goals in two different seasons (2008 and 2010). ^[2]

Belarus and Latvia

In 2009, he arrived in Belarus and signed with Belarusian Premier League side FC Smorgon. In 2011, he played for FC Smorgon in the Latvian Higher League where he scored 8 goals in 27 league matches. He then came back to Belarus with Minsk and he was in the 2011–12 Belarusian Cup Runners-up squad.

Lithuania

After several successful stints in foreign clubs, he returned to Lithuania and signed with giants FK Sūduva. During the 2013 A Lyga season, while playing for Sūduva, Valskis was awarded the Best Player and was also the league's leading scorer with 27 goals. ^[3]

Poland

In 2014, Valskis signed for CS Universitatea Craiova of Romanian Liga I and appeared in 15 league games before moving to Polish club Wigry Suwałki.

Back to Lithuania

He returned to Lithuania with FK Riteriai during the 2015–2016 season. ^[4] With the club, He scored 24 goals in 43 league matches. Valskis was in FK Riteriai's squad in that season, which finished runners-up in their domestic tournaments; A Lyga, Lithuanian Supercup and Lithuanian Football Cup.

More foreign stints

He went to Israel and played for Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv in the 2017–2018 season. Valskis was part of Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv squad which won the Israeli State Cup in 2017. ^[3]

Valskis in 2018, moved to Thailand and appeared with Ratchaburi Mitr Phol in 15 Thai League 1 matches, scoring 9 goals.

Israel

After his previous appearances with Israeli side Bnei Yehuda, Valskis again came back to Israeli Premier League with Hapoel Tel Aviv in 2019. ^{[5] [6]} He signed for Hapoel Tel Aviv on a short-term contract until the end of the 2018–19 Israeli Premier League season. ^[3] He scored only 1 goal in 10 league matches before moving to India.

India

Following his second stint in Israel, Valskis joined Indian Super League side Chennaiyin in July 2019. ^[3] In his debut season in India, Valskis was the league's top goal scorer with 15 goals, winning the ISL golden boot. ^[7] His goals helped to lead the club to the final of the Super League on 14 March 2020; he scored in the showpiece match but Chennaiyin lost 3–1 to ATK. ^[8]

On 21 August 2020, after parting ways with Chennaiyin, ^[9] Valskis signed a two year contract with fellow Super League club Jamshedpur FC, reuniting with former boss Owen Coyle. ^{[10] [7] [11]} He scored 8 goals for Jamshedpur in the 2020–21 Indian Super League season.

He returned to Chennaiyin on 1 January 2022 in the mid season of ISL 2021–22. ^[12]

Retirement from professional football

On 26 February 2024, Valskis announced his retirement from professional football.

International career

While playing for FK Sūduva, Valskis was called up in the national squad of Lithuania in 2013. He made his debut on 11 October, against Latvia in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification match. ^[13]

He scored his only goal for his country against Estonia in the 2016 Baltic Cup. In that competition, Lithuania finished as the Runners-up.

From 2013, he has appeared in 24 international matches and represented Lithuania in competitions like Baltic Cup and UEFA Nations League alongside Euro Cup, 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. ^{[14] [15]}

Career statistics

Club

As of 23 March 2022 ^[16]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
FK Žalgiris	2005	A Lyga	11	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	11	0
FK Šilutė	2007		22	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	22	0
	2008		15	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	15	4
	Total		48	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	48	4
FBK Kaunas	2008	A Lyga	10	1	1	0	4	2	4	0	19	3
	2009		0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	Total		10	1	2	0	4	2	4	0	20	3
Smorgon	2009	Belarusian Premier League	12	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	12	0
FBK Kaunas	2010	LFF I lyga	22	13	5	3	0	0	0	0	27	16
Liepājas Metalurgs	2011	Virslīga	27	8	3	1	0	0	4	0	34	9
Minsk	2012	Belarusian Premier League	10	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	12	0
FK Sūduva	2012	A Lyga	8	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	9	2
	2013		30	27	1	1	0	0	2	2	33	30
	Total		38	29	2	1	0	0	2	0	42	32
Universitatea Craiova	2013–14	Liga II	14	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	14	2
	2014–15	Liga I	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	Total		15	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	15	2
Wigry Suwałki	2014–15	I liga	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
FK Trakai	2015	A Lyga	14	7	5	2	0	0	0	0	19	9
	2016		29	17	1	0	0	0	2	1	32	18
	Total		43	24	6	2	0	0	2	1	51	25
Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv	2016–17	Israeli Premier League	14	4	5	2	0	0	0	0	19	6
	2017–18		35	7	1	0	3	1	5	1	44	9
	Total		49	11	6	2	3	1	5	1	63	15
Ratchaburi Mitr Phol	2018	Thai League 1	15	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	15	9
Hapoel Tel Aviv	2018–19	Israeli Premier League	10	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	11	1
Chennaiyin	2019–20	Indian Super League	20	15	0	0	0	0	0	0	20	15
Jamshedpur	2020–21		18	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	18	8
	2021–22		6	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	2
	Total		24	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	24	10
Chennaiyin	2021–22	Indian Super League	11	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	11	2
FK Kauno Žalgiris	2022	A Lyga	13	4	2	0	0	0	0	0	15	4
	2023		12	4	2	0	0	0	2	0	16	4
	Total		25	8	4	0	0	0	2	0	31	8
Career total			384	137	31	9	7	3	17	4	439	153

International goals

As of match played 29 May 2016. Lithuania score listed first, score column indicates score after each Valskis goal. ^[16]

International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competition

No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	29 May 2016	Klaipėdos M. Centrinis Stadionas, Klaipėda, Lithuania	6	Estonia	1–0	2–0	2016 Baltic Cup

Honours

Country

Lithuania ^[17]

• Baltic Cup runner-up: 2016

Club

FBK Kaunas

• Baltic League: 2008 ^[18]

FBK Kaunas

• A Lyga: 2007

Liepājas Metalurgs

• Latvian Football Cup runner-up: 2010–11

Minsk

• Belarusian Cup runner-up: 2011–12

FK Riteriai

• A Lyga runner-up: 2015, 2016
• Lithuanian Cup runner-up: 2016
• Lithuanian Supercup runner-up: 2016

Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv

• Israel State Cup: 2016–17 ^[3]
• Israel Super Cup runner-up: 2017 ^[19]

Chennaiyin

• Indian Super League runner-up: 2019–20 ^[20]

Individual

• A Lyga
  • (Top scorer): 2013 (27 goals) ^{[21] [3]}
• A Lyga
  • (Best Player): 2013 ^[3]
• Indian Super League
  • (Golden Boot): 2019–20 ^{[22] [7]}

References

1. Nerijus Valskis (Soccer) sports archive globalsportsarchive.com. Retrieved 17 March 2021
2. Nerijus Valskis soccer player profile and stats Football Critic. Retrieved 17 March 2021
3. "Chennaiyin FC rope in Lithuanian forward Nerijus Valskis from Hapoel Tel Aviv". Sport Skeeda. 6 July 2019. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
4. Nerijus Valskis career statistics and clubs aiscore.com. Retrieved 17 March 2021
5. "Nerijus VALSKIS". football.org.il. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
6. "ISL Transfer News: Including Miku and Nerijus Valskis". tentaran.com. 17 March 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
7. "Nerijus Valskis reunites with Coyle at Jamshedpur FC". Sport Star. 21 August 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
8. "ATK best Chennaiyin in Hero ISL 2019-20 final to clinch record third title". Indian Super League. 14 March 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
9. "ISL: Nerijus Valskis part ways with Chennaiyin FC". businessworld.com. 17 March 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
10. "ISL: It will be little strange playing against Chennaiyin, says Valskis". The Times of India. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
11. "ISL: Jamshedpur FC sign sixth season's Golden Boot winner Nerijus Valskis from Chennaiyin FC". Scroll.in. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
12. "Nerijus Valskis will play for Chennaiyin FC till the end of the 2021-22 season. The club acquired the Lithuanian forward on a free transfer". sportstar.thehindu.com. Sportstar . Retrieved 1 January 2022.
13. "Valskis, Nerijus". National Football Teams. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
14. "England v Lithuania - FIFA 2018 World Cup Qualifier". Zimbio. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
15. "Scotland v Lithuania - FIFA 2018 World Cup Qualifier". Zimbio. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
16. Nerijus Valskis at Soccerway
17. "Nerijus Valskis soccer player from Lithuania". Soccerway. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
18. "FK Ekranas - FC TVMK - BalticLeague.com". Archived from the original on 3 March 2008. Retrieved 1 March 2008.
19. "צפו: ב"ש זכתה באלוף האלופים אחרי 2:4 מטורף על בני יהודה, ויטור נפגע בברכו". sport1.maariv.co.il.
20. "ATK 3-1 Chennaiyin FC, ISL 2020 Final: Indian Super League Has Become More Professional – Antonio Habas". www.outlookindia.com. Archived from the original on 16 March 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
21. "A Lyga". Soccerway. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
22. "ISL final: Valskis wins Golden Boot, Gurpreet takes Golden Glove". www.sportstar.thehindu.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2021. Retrieved 16 March 2020.

External links

• Nerijus Valskis player profile at footballcritic.com
• Nerijus Valskis at Soccerway