Andrey Lunin (photo below) is a Ukrainian professional football player playing as a goalkeeper in the Spanish club Real Madrid from La Liga and in the national team of Ukraine, including in the youth squad. Currently, the player stands for the Spanish Leganes on a rental basis. The growth of a football player is 191 centimeters, weight - 80 kg. As part of Leganes, he plays under the 29th number.
Biography
Andrey Lunin was born on February 11, 1999 in the city of Krasnograd, Kharkov region, Ukraine. In early childhood, began to play futsal. Initially, the guy played as a striker, but since time the coach began to test him as a goalkeeper, possibly because Andrey was the highest in the children's team. He is a pupil of the youth sports school of the city of Krasnograd. Later, the player trained at the Kharkiv Arsenal and Metalist, and also was part of the Dnepropetrovsk Dnipro for some time. Between 2012 and 2016 played 69 official matches in the Junior Football League championship.
Professional club career: a short way to the Ukrainian Premier League
On April 16, 2016 goalkeeper Andrei Lunin made his debut in the youthful (U-19) team of the Dnipro in a home match against the strong “Rock”. For the youth (U-21) team debuted on September 24 of the same year in an away match with the Odessa “Chernomorets”. During the debut season he became the main goalkeeper.
On October 16, 2016, goalkeeper Lunin began to participate in the Ukrainian Premier League, leaving the starting lineup in an away game against Lviv “Carpathians”. During the match, he conceded 1 goal in the 29th minute. Lunin, at the age of 17 years and 247 days, entered the top 5 of the youngest goalkeepers in the history of Ukrainian football championships.
First appearances for Dnepropetrovsk Dnipro
On October 26 of the same year, Andrei Lunin, the goalkeeper of Dnipro, defended for the first time “to zero” (in regular and extra time) for his team in the away cup match against Chernihiv Desna, and in the penalty shoot-out, he parried two shots, which helped “Blue-white-blue” to win and get to the next round of competition.
Having played the third consecutive match in the Ukrainian Premier League (October 30, 2016), following the results of the round, Andrey earned a place in the symbolic team according to the version of Football 24 portal. The Ukrainian football community was surprised by the game of the young goalkeeper. Lunin was a real discovery of the Premier League. Soon, the player began to form a fan base.
At the end of November of the same year, having played a solid match against Shakhtar Donetsk (in particular, in the 24th minute with a score of 0: 0 he saved a penalty from Marlos), goalkeeper Lunin received the title of best player of his team in this match and again ended up in the symbolic national team of the tour according to the version of Football 24 portal. Also, after this game, Andrei first entered the symbolic national team of the tour according to the UA-Football portal.
On November 30, 2016, the young goalkeeper Lunin defended “zero” for the second time in a cup match in the 1/4 final home game against Poltava Vorskla, thereby helping his team get to the tournament semifinals.
In December 2016, it became known that Donetsk Shakhtar became interested in Andrey Lunin. After a successful game in an away match against Lugansk Zarya, Andrey was included in the symbolic national team of the tour according to the UA-Football portal for the second time in a row. For several months, the player received improved transfer offers, but Andrei did not consider the Donetsk club as a transition. As he admitted later, he knew that scouts from Real Madrid were watching him, so he was in no hurry to make decisions from third-party clubs. On December 13, he again, for the third time in a row, got into the symbolic team of the same UA-Football.
Going to the Dawn
In July 2017, information appeared in the media that goalkeeper Lunin signed a two-year contract with Lugansk Zarya. During the 2017/18 season, Andrei played 29 matches, in which he missed 41 goals. At the same time, his statistics as a goalkeeper was one of the best in the Ukrainian championship. He had the greatest number of saves, and he was also on the list of the top 5 best goalkeepers in terms of the number of “dry” matches.
The long-awaited proposal from the "Royal Club": Andrei Lunin - Real Madrid goalkeeper
On June 22, 2018, Andrei Lunin transferred for 14 million euros to the Spanish club Real Madrid, signing a contract for 6 seasons. The Ukrainian goalkeeper was presented to the public on July 23, 2018.
Before moving to Real Madrid, many European clubs were aimed at the Ukrainian goalkeeper, among which were Liverpool (England) and Inter and Napoli (Italy).
Galacticos T-shirt debut
He made his debut for the “creamy” in the match of the International Champions Cup against Manchester United, starting the meeting on the bench. After the break, Kiko Casilla entered the field instead of the goalkeeper with a score of 1: 2 in favor of the “Red Devils”, spent the entire second half and did not miss a single goal. With his confident and high-quality game, the Ukrainian hit the tutors of the “royal” club. He also received flattering comments from European journalists and leading sports publications. In the next match against the Italian Juventus, Andrei Lunin appeared on the field in the 64th minute (the score was 3: 1, Real Madrid won). During the match, the rookie made two super-saves, once again proving his football viability to the whole world. The match ended with the score 3: 1 in favor of Real Madrid, Lunin did not miss.
Rumor has it that the "royal" club is planning a new transfer policy. "Creamy" no longer willing to spend money on expensive transfers and chasing names. This is confirmed by the last summer transfer - Real Madrid sold the main star to Cristiano Ronaldo, and in exchange for his position did not acquire a star player. For the 2018/19 season, the club bought a lot of young players, who should open up over the years. From now on, the club is aimed at acquiring young and talented players who will become real stars in their composition. One of these is Andrei Lunin, but, of course, time will tell. The Ukrainian goalkeeper is called the beginning of the "new era" for the Madrid club, as they count on him in the future.
Rent in Leganes
At the end of August 2018, the Ukrainian goalkeeper Lunin was officially announced on a one-year lease to join the ranks of another La Liga club, Leganes. The media reported that Elche, Valladolid and Rayo Vallecano were also interested in renting Andrei Lunin.
Career in the national team of Ukraine
Between 2014 and 2015 Lunin played in the youth team of Ukraine until the age of 16. Since 2015, he began to play for the national team until the age of 17.
In 2017, the player began to be attracted to the composition of the U-19, and also joined the youth team of Ukraine until the age of 21.
On March 23, 2018, he fully played the friendly match of the national team of Ukraine against the national team of Saudi Arabia on the field, thus making his debut in the main Ukrainian team at the age of 19 years and 40 days. He became the youngest goalkeeper in her history. In September 2018, he was a reserve goalkeeper at the matches of the League of Nations with the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Personal life
Unfortunately, so far all the details of the personal life of the young Ukrainian goalkeeper are unknown to the press. Football player Andrei Lunin is not particularly talkative with reporters, perhaps because he is still young and shy. The “creamy” goalkeeper meets a wonderful and beautiful girl, whose name is Anastasia Tamazova. She is three years older than Andrei, studying at the Oles Honchar Dnipropetrovsk National University. In the social network "Instagram" you can monitor the leisure and pastime of the couple.