Nikita Ilyich Haikin (Russian: Никита Ильич Хайкин, Hebrew: ניקיטה איליץ' חייקין; born 11 July 1995) is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Bodø/Glimt. Born in Israel, he represented Russia at youth level.
Early life
Haikin was born in Netanya, Israel, to a family who emigrated from Russia to Israel. His father is businessman Ilya Haikin. In 1997, as a two year old baby, his family moved back with him to Moscow, Russia.
Aside from having Israeli and Russian citizenships, Haikin is also a British national.[1]
Club career
Aged 7 Haikin began his youth career at FSHM Torpedo-Moscow. Nikita was also a part of Dinamo Moscow academy before moving to England.[2]
In September 2013, Haikin went on trial with Reading following his release from Chelsea.[3] Haikin made his professional debut in the Israeli Premier League for Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv on 25 February 2017 in a game against Maccabi Tel Aviv.[4]
He then ran out of the contract and joined Hapoel Kfar Saba for one season.
In March 2019 he signed a contract with Eliteserien club Bodø/Glimt with whom Nikita became a silver medalist in his first season and won, in two consecutive seasons, the Norwegian League championship in 2020 and 2021. Haikin played in the UEFA Europa League where Bodø/Glimt played the likes of Milan at San Siro, AS Roma at the Stadio Olimpico, and Celtic F.C. at Celtic Park.[5]
On 25 January 2023, after being released by Bodø/Glimt, Haikin signed a short-term contract with English Championship club Bristol City until the end of the season.[6] Haikin was released by Bristol City on 21 March 2023, re-signing with Bodø/Glimt the same day, on a contract until the summer of 2026.[7][8]
International career
Haikin has been an international youth, including Russia U-21, for Russia since 2010.
He was called up to the Russia senior national team for the first time in October 2021, as part of their World Cup qualifiers against Cyprus and Croatia. He was included in the extended 41-players list of candidates.[9] He was included in the final squad list for these games and was on the bench in both, backing up Matvei Safonov. On 31 October 2024 Haikin revealed he intends to apply for Norwegian citizenship due to his engagement to a Norwegian and desire to settle down there. Norway manager Ståle Solbakken commented that Haikin would be considered for a call-up should he become eligible.[10]
Career statistics
- As of match played 20 February 2025[11]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Mordovia Saransk | 2014–15 | Russian Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 0 | 0 | ||
| Kuban Krasnodar | 2015–16 | Russian Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2016–17 | FNL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 0 | 0 | |||
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv | 2016–17 | Israeli Premier League | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | – | 5 | 0 | ||
| Hapoel Kfar Saba | 2017–18 | Liga Leumit | 13 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 15 | 0 | ||
| Bodø/Glimt | 2019 | Eliteserien | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2020 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 3 | 0 | 23 | 0 | |||
| 2021 | 29 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 14 | 0 | 44 | 0 | |||
| 2022 | 27 | 0 | 5 | 0 | – | 19 | 0 | 50 | 0 | |||
| Total | 77 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 0 | 121 | 0 | ||
| Bristol City | 2022–23 | EFL Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | |
| Bodø/Glimt | 2023 | Eliteserien | 27 | 0 | 4 | 0 | – | 9 | 0 | 40 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 11 | 0 | 41 | 0 | |||
| 2025 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |||
| Total | 57 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 85 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 149 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 0 | 226 | 0 | ||
Honours
Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv
Bodø/Glimt
- Eliteserien: 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024
References
- ^ Fifield, Dominic. "'I cannot just close my eyes' - Bodo/Glimt's Russian keeper Haikin, an advocate for peace". The Athletic. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
- ^ "Who is Nikita Haikin? Former Chelsea & Portsmouth youth goalkeeper linked with Blackburn Rovers". Lancs.live. 20 January 2023.
- ^ "Reading trials for Russian pair Sergey Kundik and Nikita Haikin". tribal football. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
- ^ "Game Report by Soccerway". Soccerway. 25 February 2017.
- ^ "Bodo/Glimt goalkeeper Nikita Haikin aiming to make Celtic his next big scalp, and earn a move back to British football". uk.sports.yahoo.com.
- ^ "Bristol City sign goalkeeper Haikin". BBC Sport. 25 January 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
- ^ "HAIKIN LEAVES CITY". bcfc.co.uk. Bristol City. 21 March 2023. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
- ^ "HAIKIN HENTES HJEM: – JEG ELSKER GLIMT OG BODØ". glimt.no (in Norwegian). FK Bodø/Glimt. 21 March 2023. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
- ^ Расширенный состав на Кипр и Хорватию [Expanded squad for Cyprus and Croatia] (in Russian). Russian Football Union. 25 October 2021.
- ^ "Glimt-keeperen vil bli norsk: – Jeg elsker dette landet". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). 31 October 2024. Retrieved 31 October 2024.
- ^ "Nikita Haikin". altomfotball.no (in Norwegian). TV 2. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
External links
- Nikita Haikin at FootballFacts.ru (in Russian)
- Nikita Haikin at WorldFootball.net
- Nikita Haikin at Soccerway
