I needed a physically well-developed midfielder — Maldera on calling up debutant Varfolomieiev
Kyiv • UNN
Maldera called up Varfolomieiev because of his physical strength and experience in the Championship. The 22-year-old midfielder will make his debut for the Ukraine national team.
Ukraine national team head coach Andrea Maldera explained why he called up Lincoln City central midfielder Ivan Varfolomiiev to the squad, noting that he needed a midfielder who was physically well developed, UNN reports.
Details
We were monitoring many players. Varfolomiiev was one of the possible players who play in central midfield. He plays in a league where there is a lot of battling and self-sacrifice. He plays in the Championship regularly and has a lot of match practice. We also have midfielders who are capable of making more passes. I also needed to have a midfielder in the squad who is physically well developed and can also play for other purposes. Even if he is suspended tomorrow and will not play
What is known about Ivan Varfolomiiev
On September 16, Ukraine national team head coach Andrea Maldera announced the Ukraine squad for the Nations League matches.
The first call-ups went to Polish Górnik winger Maksym Khlan, Artem Stepanov from Dutch club Utrecht, and English Lincoln midfielder Ivan Varfolomiiev.
Ivan Varfolomiiev is a product of Simferopol's Tavriya, which ceased to exist after the occupation of Crimea. In 2014, he moved to the academy of Lviv's Karpaty.
In September 2020, he joined another Lviv club, Rukh. He made his debut in the Lviv side's shirt on February 21, 2021, in a 0:2 away defeat in the 15th-round match of the Ukrainian First League against Donetsk's Shakhtar.
In the spring of 2022, following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Varfolomiiev unilaterally terminated his contract with Rukh and left Ukraine, signing an agreement with Slovan Liberec in July. Following an investigation, the Dispute Resolution Chamber of the Ukrainian Association of Football ordered the footballer to pay Rukh compensation of approximately USD 100,000. However, the Court of Arbitration for Sport) overturned the decision of the UAF Dispute Resolution Chamber and ruled that the player had committed no violation, also ordering FC Rukh to pay him the outstanding amount for the period worked.
On August 21, 2025, Varfolomiiev joined English club Lincoln City, which currently plays in the Championship (England's second-tier league — ed.).
Recently, Lincoln City announced that Varfolomiiev had extended his contract with the club until 2030.
This season, the 22-year-old Ukrainian, who received his first call-up to the national team, has provided 1 assist in 9 matches at club level.
Ukraine national team winger Andriy Yarmolenko said during a press conference: "Regarding the newcomers and young players — you were right to mention the nerves. Of course, I have spoken with them, Mister (Andrea Maldera — ed.) speaks with them as well, and the rest of the team speaks with them too. It is normal when you are 19 or 20, even 22 or 23. You receive your first call-up, and you feel nervous, so these are normal things. The most important thing is to cope with those nerves and gain confidence. And to gain that confidence, this is, in principle, what teammates and older teammates are there for — to help and share their experience, so that the nervousness goes away as quickly as possible."