Georgiy Yermakov: "I missed Ukrainian football a lot"

The newcomer of FC "Kharkiv" Georgiy Yermakov gave his first major interview after officially joining the Kharkiv club. The goalkeeper talked about lengthy negotiations, returning to Ukraine, the season at Israeli "Maccabi" Haifa, and shared his goals for the new championship.

– Happy with the new stage?

– Of course, I am very happy to join. The negotiation process took quite a long time - over a month. There were certain delays and moments that needed to be agreed upon between the clubs, with me. And all this took a significant amount of time. But I'm here now, this story ended very well for all parties involved, I believe. So I am happy with how it turned out. There is a feeling of new emotions, because it's always like that when there's a new place, new people, a new challenge, and you have to be ready right away, get to work. My main focus now is on that.

– Who from the football club "Kharkiv" have you been in touch with all this time?

– I interacted with many people - with our captain Ivan, with Sanya Martinyuk, with Artem Shabanov, and other guys I crossed paths with in the national team. But this trio from "Oleksandriya," where we played together, was in contact with me the most.

– Have you talked to Mladen Bartulovich?

– Yes. We had a conversation about the overall vision and about football. It was a very candid conversation.

– What skill did you bring from the Israeli championship that was not in your skillset before?

– Communicating on the field in several languages at once, because the defensive line in front of me was very multilingual - there were French speakers, English speakers, and local guys. I had to get used to it a bit, but over time I managed - and I already felt comfortable.

– Did you miss Ukrainian football?

– I did, definitely. I followed the championship throughout the year, watched the games I could. I watched the reviews, followed how everything was developing, the struggle for European Cup spots and for the first place. Because there was quite an interesting and unexpected competition - even in the Cup.

– When you left Ukraine, you were one of the best goalkeepers in Ukraine. Do you feel you have become even stronger?

– 100 percent. New experience, working with new coaches. I had a high-level goalkeeper coach - he also taught me a lot, showed me what could be. And this was also a significant experience for my development.

– In your opinion, which trait of your character has helped you the most in your career?

– Hard work and the ability to understand your strengths and weaknesses realistically, how to develop and where to move forward

– How many clean sheets do you aim for in the season?

– I want to beat my record - 15.