Amir Adamovich Natkho (russian: Амир Адамович Натхо; born 9 July 1996) is a Russian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Career

Natkho was formed at the

Konoplyov football academy Yuri Konoplyov football academy (russian: Академия футбола имени Юрия Коноплёва) is a Russian youth football academy based in Togliatti. History The academy was founded in 2003 as SDYuShOR Krylia Sovetov. In ...

, where alumni included

Alan Dzagoev Alan Yelizbarovich Dzagoev (russian: Алан Елизбарович Дзагоев, ; os, Дзӕгъойты Елизбары фырт Алан; romanized as Dzagoyev; born 17 June 1990) is a Russian international footballer who plays as a cen ...

and Artur Yusupov. He made his debut in the

Russian Second Division The Russian Second League (russian: Первенство России II дивизиона ФНЛ), formerly Russian Professional Football League is the third level of Russian professional football (soccer), football. History In 1998–2010, it ...

for

FC Druzhba Maykop FC Druzhba Maykop (russian: ФК "Дружба" Майкоп) is a Russian association football club from Maykop, Republic of Adygea, founded in 1963. It is playing in the Russian Football National League 2, FNL 2. Their biggest achievement was ...

on 16 July 2012 in a game against

FC MITOS Novocherkassk FC MITOS Novocherkassk (russian: ФК МИТОС Новочеркасск) was a Russian association football club from Novocherkassk, founded in 1999 as amateur club by construction company MITOS. In 2008 FC MITOS had its debut in semi-professiona ...

. He made 18 appearances across the season, scoring one goal in a 3–1 win over

Alania Vladikavkaz FC Alania Vladikavkaz (russian: "Алания" (Владикавказ), os, Футболон клуб "Алани" (Дзæуджыхъæу)) is a Russian football team from Vladikavkaz. Founded in 1921, the club played in the Soviet Top League ...

on 31 July. On 10 July 2014 he transferred to

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, being put into their Under-19 team. On 24 November he scored his first goal, in a 3–2 win against

APOEL APOEL FC ( el, ΑΠΟΕΛ; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, ''Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', literally "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") ...

in the

UEFA Youth League The UEFA Youth League is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 2013. In its current format, it is contested by the youth teams of the clubs competing in the UEFA Champions League ...

. He did not break into the main squad, where only one Russian had ever played,

Igor Korneev Igor Vladimirovich Korneev (russian: Игорь Владимирович Корнеев; born 4 September 1967) is a Russian professional football official and a former player who played as a midfielder, notably in La Liga for RCD Espanyol and ...

in the 1990s. On 1 September 2015, Natkho returned to Russia, signing for

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was a central piece ...

. He was entered into their

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; russian: Российская премьер-лига; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is the top division professional association football league in Russia. It was established at the end of 2001 ...

and

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

squads. He made his CSKA debut on 23 September in a Russian Cup game against

FC Baikal Irkutsk FC Baikal Irkutsk (russian: ФК Байкал Иркутск) was a Russian football team from Irkutsk, founded in 2009. It was relegated from the second-tier FNL back to PFL at the end of the 2015–16 season, but it did not receive a profes ...

. On 20 June 2016, he was released from his CSKA contract. On 29 August 2016, he signed a four-year contract with

FC Krasnodar FC Krasnodar is a Russian professional football club based in Krasnodar that plays in the Russian Premier League. The club was founded in 2008. In 2009, the club was promoted to the Russian First Division, the second highest division of the Ru ...

. He was removed from their first-team and reserve squads on 19 December. On 11 February 2017, he signed with

FC Lokomotiv Moscow FC Lokomotiv Moscow (''FC Lokomotiv Moskva'', russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб "Локомотив" Москва, ) is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow. Lokomotiv have won the Russian Premier League on three oc ...

. On 3 August 2018, he signed a two-year contract with the Romanian club

FC Viitorul Constanța Fotbal Club Viitorul Constanța (), commonly known as Viitorul Constanța or simply Viitorul, was a Romanian professional football club based in Ovidiu, Constanța County. They last played their home matches in blue and black kits at the Stadionu ...

Personal life

His father

Adam Natkho Adam Cherimovich Natkho ( ady, Адам Натхъо, russian: Адам Черимович Натхо; born 14 February 1959) is a Russian professional football coach and former player. Personal life Adam is a Circassian by nationality. He ...

is a former player and coach, while his cousin

Bibras Natkho Bibars Natcho ( Adyghe: Пыйпэрыс Натхъо, he, ביברס נאתכו, ; born 18 February 1988) is an Israeli professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Serbian club Partizan and captains the Israel national team. ...

is a midfielder for Parizan Belgrade and

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. Amir is a Circassian by nationality.

Honours

Individual *

Meistriliiga Meistriliiga (, known as the A. Le Coq Premium Liiga for sponsorship reasons) is the highest division of the Estonian Football Association annual football (soccer), football championship. The league was founded in 1992, and was initially semi-p ...

Player of the Month: July 2020

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Natkho, Amir 1996 births Sportspeople from Maykop Circassian people of Russia Living people Russian men's footballers Russia men's youth international footballers Men's association football midfielders FC Druzhba Maykop players FC Barcelona players PFC CSKA Moscow players FC Krasnodar-2 players FC Lokomotiv Moscow players FC Viitorul Constanța players FC BATE Borisov players FC Yevpatoria players Nõmme Kalju FC players FCI Levadia Tallinn players FC Armavir players FC SKA-Khabarovsk players Russian Second League players Liga I players Belarusian Premier League players Crimean Premier League players Meistriliiga players Esiliiga players Russian First League players Russian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Russian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Russian expatriate sportspeople in Romania Expatriate men's footballers in Belarus Russian expatriate sportspeople in Belarus Expatriate men's footballers in Estonia Russian expatriate sportspeople in Estonia