BOSS Matt Clarke hopes Redditch United can provide a springboard for Ukrainian refugee Yan Osadchyi to get his football career back on track.
Having impressed as a trialist in recent weeks, the Southern League Premier Central Reds have signed Osadchyi, subject to international clearance. And he arrives with a decent pedigree.
The 28-year-old fullback previously played in the Persha Liga/Ukrainian First League (second tier) with Alians Lypova Dolyna.
Over the winter, the side travelled to Turkey for warm weather training before the League was set to commence again in April.
However, before they could go back to their home country, war broke out in February as Russia invaded.
The team were then split up as some players chose to go back to Ukraine to fight in the war and others fled to different European countries for safety.
Osadchyi and his partner Alina have now settled in Worcester as he looks to rebuild his footballing career in England.
Clarke has been impressed by his quality, particularly considering he hasn’t played since his time in Ukraine with his promotion-chasing team.
“We know where we are in the league pyramid and we know Yan was playing as a professional at a really good level in Ukraine,” Clarke told The Athletic.
“He wants to do well for us to catch the eye of one of the professional clubs further up the pyramid. If he can do that by playing well for us, I’ll be delighted.
“The difficulty Yan might have is that when clubs higher up the pyramid look at players from our level, they tend to be looking for younger players. It’s a question of whether clubs higher up will see an older player as a viable option.”
