Nikita Contini
Nikita Contini-Baranovsky is a Ukrainian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Napoli.
Club career
Youth career
Contini was born in Cherkasy, Ukraine, to an Italian father originally from Naples and a Ukrainian mother. When Contini was three years old, he moved with his family to Giugliano in Campania, Italy.He started his football career at the age of five at Atletico Giugliano, a club his father was part of as a youth coach a young age who was a youth coach of Atletico Giugliano; he often ended up playing in teams with older boys as he moved up their youth ranks.
In 2007, Napoli played Atletico Giugliano in a friendly and Contini stood out with his performance and impressed then Napoli youth goalkeeping coach Luciano Tarallo. Later that year, he went on trial with Napoli and in 2008 he joined their youth system; in his first season at Napoli, he provided good performances and won the best goalkeeper award in the "Niccolò Galli" youth tournament in Florence and the "Cairo Montenotte" tournament in Savona, Italy. However, a serious knee injury following a clash with teammate Gennaro Tutino forced him to miss the remainder of the season.
After recovering from his injury, he made a full comeback with the youth team and took part in the renowned "Beppe Viola-Arco di Trento" youth tournament, where Contini played all the games and Napoli reached the final, then lost to Inter Milan; Contini went on to win the award for best goalkeeper of the tournament.
On 3 April 2013, Contini made his debut for the Primavera Under-19 team in a match against Lanciano, as a substitute, and immediately saved a penalty on his first game. In the 2013–14 season, Contini was also featured in the UEFA Youth League.