Maksym Zhuk
Maksym Evgenovich Zhuk is a Ukrainian professional football player who plays as a goalkeeper for SalPa, on loan from KTP.
Career
Zhuk was born and raised in Mariupol, Ukraine, and played in a youth sector of local club FC Mariupol. In late February 2022, he attended the club's first team's training camp in Turkey. On 24 February, the team was supposed to return to Ukraine, but before the boarding of their flight, the Russian invasion of Ukraine escalated and Russia started bombing the country and also Mariupol. His family fled from Ukraine and relocated to Tallinn, Estonia. After spending one month in Turkey, Zhuk and the FC Mariupol players started to look for new clubs. Via Croatia and Poland, Zhuk ended up to Estonian club Nõmme Kalju. From Estonia, Zhuk traveled to Kotka, Finland, and joined local club KTP, with a help from Nõmme Kalju's sporting director Argo Arbeiter, former head coach of KTP.He joined KTP team in summer 2022, but signed his first professional contract for the 2023 Veikkausliiga season. He played one game with associate club PEPO Lappeenranta in third-tier Kakkonen, before on 31 July he was loaned out to Ykkönen club Käpylän Pallo for the rest of the 2023 season in Finnish second-tier. He returned to KTP for the 2024 season, and in October they secured the new second-tier Ykkösliiga title and were promoted back to Veikkausliiga.