Russian striker Portnyagin Igor, in his 28 years, traveled to almost all of Russia, changing clubs in search of game practice. Now the forward, who has been called up to the national team, stands for one of the domestic top clubs - the capital's Lokomotiv, in which they await the disclosure of the talent of a skilled forward.
The beginning of a football career
Igor began Portnyagin his career in Izhevsk. After studying at the football school Luch-Energia in Vladivostok, in 2005 the striker signed a contract with the club SOYUZ-Gazprom. At first, the young striker was rarely let out even for a replacement, but in the second half of the second and the entire third season as part of the Izhevsk team he could be observed much more often. As a result, for the three years spent in the team of the Second Division of Russia, Igor played in 26 meetings, marking 3 goals.
Ruby period
Wanting to try his hand at the league a level higher, in January 2008 Igor Portnyagin signed a contract with FC Rubin. And having played for almost a year and a half as a member of the second team of the Kazan club, in April 2009 he made his debut in the Premier League, substituting for 10 minutes in the match against FC Moskva. Six months later, having appeared for the second time in the championship for the main team, the forward received a little more time in the match against Kuban - 25 minutes, and during that time he managed to score a goal against the opponent, who was the first for the striker for Rubin.
Since 2011, Igor Portnyagin began to wander around on leases in search of gaming practice. The first in the list of temporary clubs for the striker was “Spartak Nalchik”, in which he came twice a year, returning to the “Ruby” in the summer to play one match. After the Caucasian club, having spent the training camp with Kazan, Igor went to Siberia, where he played for Tom for the next six months, followed by Neftekhimik, where the football player managed to reveal his talent.
As part of the Nizhnekamsk club, the young player was completely trusted, constantly releasing him on the field, for which Portnyagin thanked the team, scoring 16 goals in 19 matches. Returning to Rubin again, at the end of the lease term, the Russian spent training with the club, after which he moved for six months to Samara's Wings. In Samara, Igor played only 7 meetings, scoring two goals, and in the summer he again became a player, “Tommy”. After spending another year in the Tomsk club, the striker steadily appeared on the field and, having returned as an experienced player, finally began to play in the basis of “Rubin”.
For two consecutive seasons, Portnyagin regularly appeared in the Kazan squad and made his debut for the national team in 2015, playing in a friendly match against Kazakhstan. Coaching staff of “Rubin” for two years, 60 times releasing on the striker, received 17 goals in response, including one in the Europa League. This performance attracted the attention of many clubs that regularly suggested Igor to change the team.
Transition to Lokomotiv
Shortly before the closing of the transfer window in the summer of 2016, Lokomotiv, whose coaching staff expressed a desire for Igor Portnyagin, a Russian national football player, to play for the Moscow team, bought the rights for a football player from Rubin for 3 million euros.
But the forward did not succeed in opening up properly for the first half of the season. By the end of 2016, the newcomer to the railway team had only 5 matches, of which only two in the starting lineup and one goal against the Khimki near Moscow in the framework of the Russian Cup. Nevertheless, the coaching staff headed by Yuri Semin is waiting for a breakthrough from Portnyagin and counts on his help in the second part of the championship.