Austin FC has announced an agreement to acquire Ukrainian center back Oleksandr Svatok via transfer from SC Dnipro-1. Svatok joins Austin FC on a three-and-a-half-year guaranteed contract through the end of the 2027 season with an option for 2028.
Svatok is currently with the Ukrainian Men’s National Team at UEFA EURO 2024 and will arrive in the United States pending receipt of his ITC and P-1 visa.
Svatok spent the last four seasons with SC Dnipro-1 in his hometown of Dnipro, Ukraine, recently serving as the team’s captain. He made 108 appearances for SC Dnipro-1 including eight appearances in the UEFA Europa Conference League.
Svatok began his professional career with Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, the unofficial predecessor of SC Dnipro-1, making his senior debut in 2014. He spent the first part of the 2014/2015 season on loan with Volyn Lutsk before returning to Dnipro.
In 2017 he joined fellow Ukrainian side Zorya Luhansk and played all six of the team’s UEFA Europa League group stage matches that season, scoring against Hertha Berlin.
He transferred to Hajduk Split in Croatia and spent one year there before joining SC Dnipro-1 in January 2020. In each of the last three seasons, Dnipro-1 has finished in the top four of the Ukrainian Premier Liga, with Svatok playing 67 of the team’s 90 league matches during that stretch.
Svatok will occupy Senior and International designations on the Austin FC roster.
Svatok is the third player signed by Austin FC ahead of the summer transfer window, in addition to Ghanaian winger Osman Bukari and Danish defender Mikkel Desler. All three players will be eligible to compete for Austin beginning July 18.