Summary of Latvian players abroad in the 2022/23 season
With Raimonds Krollis Spezia Calcio's relegation to the Italian Serie B, the 2022/23 season for Latvian players in the European leagues comes to an end. Well, to be honest, that’s not true, as Aleksandrs Kartisovs still have one game left in the Czechia 3rd tier, but with that said, we can look back at how the Latvian players were doing in the non-summer European leagues.
21yo/FWD Raimonds Krollis – Spezia Calcio (Italy, Serie A) league ranked 4th.
After becoming the Virslīga top scorer and leading Valmiera FC to their first league title in history, the 21-year-old forward started the year with a big move as he signed a deal with Italian Seria A side Spezia Calcio. On the 20th of January Spezia announced the transfer and two days later he was on the bench as they played against Jose Mourinho Roma's side. Raimonds made his Serie A debut two weeks later as he came on the field as a substitute against the eventual champions Napoli - 0:3.
In total Raimonds appeared in four Italian Serie A games this season all of them coming off the bench. Spezia got relegated from Serie A, as they lost in the last game of the season against Verona in the winner stays in the Serie A game. Raimonds will have to prove himself next season, he has potential and a big future ahead of him. Spezia paid big money for him, he will need to produce next year and if he does… how great it will be for Latvian football in general.
25yo/FWD Roberts Uldriķis – Cambuur SC (Netherlands, Eredivisie) ranked 11th.
A season to forget for Roberts as his Cambuur after a great last season when they were close to reaching Europe and can’t forget that Roberts was a big part of it as he scored 7 goals in the 21 league games. It was his first season with Cambuur after moving to them from the Swiss Super League side Sion FC. He was given a captain armband before the season and the expectations were big, but he could not score a goal, the team was struggling and he also lost his captain armband. The team ended up relegated to the Dutch second division as they finished in 17th place out of 18 teams. Roberts did not score for 1309 minutes a goal in Eredivisie. He snapped that anti-streak of minutes played without a goal as he scored in the last game of the season against RKC Waalwijk. The stats don’t look impressive 28 games played and just 1 goal to his name. Roberts is still under contract till the end of the 2024 season what will happen with him who knows? I would not be against it if he stays at Cambuur and tries to get them back to the Eredivisie, the level in the Dutch 2nd division is not bad and he could score a lot of goals there. There is a possibility of a loan also, but we will see what happens with him.
29yo/FWD Dāvis Ikaunieks – Jablonec (Czechia, Fortuna Liga) ranked 12th.
Dāvis ended his 7th season in Czechia and he made quite a lot of appearances (21 in total across all competitions with the first team, three in the starting eleven), last time he played in that many games in Czechia was back in the 17/18 season when he played in 28 games for Jihlava, he scored that season 10 goals… this season he had 21 appearances, unfortunately, 0 goals to his name, but he did have two assists. Dāvis once again did get sporadic minutes and mostly was used as a player from the bench – 427 total minutes played, which is around 20 minutes average per game. Jablonec avoided relegation as they finished 13th out of 16 teams. We will see what happens with Dāvis and where he will play next season. Could the return to Latvia be possible?
19yo/FWD Dario Šits – Parma FC (Italy, Serie B) ranked 19th.
The injury-riddled season for the young talented forward. Dario made 3 appearances for the first team this season (two league games and one cup game), but it should have been more if not for a surgery he had in January as he missed a big part of the season. Dario returned to action in April as he played three games for the Parma U19 Primavera side and scored one goal. His Parma side was a little bit short of reaching Serie A and next year will again play in the Italian second division. About Dario individually, there were some offers for him to go out on loan before he suffered the injury, and offers were coming in from German, Dutch and Belgium clubs. But Dario could also stay battling for playing time in the pre-season to prove his worth with Parma, as his contract ends at the end of the 2026 season. It will be an important season for Dario so let’s see what happens.
28yo/FWD Vladislavs Gutkovskis – Rakow (Poland, Ekstraklasa) ranked 23rd.
A season to remember for Gutkovskis as he had a key role in Rakow's historical season – they won their first Ekstraklasa league title and will play in the UEFA Champions League qualification. Vladislavs is under contract with Rakow until the end of the 2025 season and scored 8 league goals in 32 league games. The highlight of the season individually for Gutkovskis will be the game on the 5th of November in which he scored four goals in one half against Wisla Plock. Will be interesting to see what happens with Gutkovskis this summer, as a few teams across Europe were monitoring him last summer and wanted to acquire him, but the owner asked for a lot of money and the potential move did not happen. Rumours were going around that Rakow might part ways with Gutkovskis, there are a few Ekstraklasa clubs interested, one of them is Slask Wroclaw.
26yo/W Andrejs Cigaņiks – Widzew Lodz (Poland, Ekstraklasa) ranked 23rd.
Andrejs Cigaņiks started the season in Slovakia with Dunajska Streda, but in the winter transfer window made a move to Polish Ekstraklasa side Widzew Lodz. He was a starting player there, appearing in 15 league games and scoring once. Andrejs still has one year remaining in his contract, so if there are no major changes the Latvian international will start the season with Widzew.
22yo/DM Kristers Tobers - Lechia Gdansk (Poland, Ekstraklasa) ranked 23rd.
Great season for Kristers individually, he has been a regular presence for Lechia Gdansk this season. Despite not scoring goals, Tobers played in 30 games and provided one assist this season across all competitions. His contributions in breaking down opponents' attacks make him a valuable asset for any team in Europe. His contract with Lechia Gdansk comes to an end at the end of June and his Lechia is getting relegated from the Polish top-flight, so expect him to play in a new team next season. According to rumours – two of Turkish highest-league sides are interested in bringing Tobers, so we will see what happens.
23yo/AM Daniels Ontužāns - Freiburg II (Germany, 3 Liga) ranked 34th.
At the age of 23, for the last few seasons, Daniels Ontužāns has been showcasing his skills for Freiburg II in the German third division. He appeared in just 10 games this season scoring one goal. Unfortunately, once again he was out for quite some time because of an injury and that has been the problem with Ontužāns always – he can’t stay healthy. The talent is there for the former Bayern Munchen player, and he would be exactly what we need on the National Team knowing our current situation at the midfield position… maybe a new start will be what he needs as his contract with the Freiburg II team comes to an end and he will now look for a new place to play. It will be interesting to see what his next move will be. At the end of the day, he is still just 23 years old.
23yo/AM Čebrails Makreckis - Pirin (Bulgaria, efBet Liga) ranked 37th.
Čebrails Makreckis, a 23-year-old attacking midfielder, has been plying his trade for Pirin in the Bulgarian top flight. Despite his team's lower league ranking, Makreckis has displayed consistency, featuring in 24 games and scoring one goal. His creative abilities and play have contributed to Pirin's attacking prowess. His great play was noticed also, as just a few days ago he signed a deal with the Hungarian champions Ferencvarosi TS. Will hope that he will change his mind and will play for the Latvian NT team in the future. Our talent pool to choose from is not big, so Makreckis would be a great addition, but first I want to wish him good luck in Hungary. Great chance to play European football for him.
27yo/DM Eduards Emsis - KF Egnatia (Albania, Abissnet Superiore) ranked 47th.
Latvian National Team midfielder after a season in Finland, signed a 1-and-a-half-year deal with Albanian side KF Egnatia. He was not a starting player there, mostly appearing coming from the bench, but he did get silverware with the team as he lifted the Albanian Cup. Egnatia will play in the UEFA Europa Conference League qualification this summer and Emsis will try to crack the starting lineup as the new season will approach.
A spreadsheet with all the Latvian players who are playing in the non-summer leagues and the league is ranked according to Team Form. Did not include Deniss Čirkins (Sunderland) and Ādams Legzdiņš (Dundee United).
Latvian youth players who are playing in various European academies.
Thank you for reading!