Kazakhstan national team midfielder Islam Chesnokov played his first match for Samara's Krylia Sovetov in the Russian Premier League. The native of Ust-Kamenogorsk started the calendar year at Scottish club Hearts, and moved to the Samara club on loan from Tobol with an option to buy, reports infohub.kz.

In the 5th round of the RPL season 2026/27, held on August 23, Krylia Sovetov defeated Tolyatti's Akron away with a score of 3:0. Goals were scored by Nikita Chernov (19th minute), Dominik Oroz (75th), and Vladislav Shitov (90+2).

The Samara coaching staff, led by Sergei Bulatov, fielded Chesnokov in the starting lineup in the position behind the forwards. However, the newcomer did not show his best qualities, and he will need time to adapt, as he himself stated in a quick interview at halftime.

Krylia Sovetov's general director Tarkhan Dzhabrailov earlier noted: "Islam Chesnokov has long been in the sphere of interest of our club, we have been following him for a long time. He is a qualified, individually strong footballer who will strengthen our attacking potential. Islam has experience fighting for high places and playing in European competitions. We had the opportunity to acquire Chesnokov, and we took advantage of it. On terms comfortable for our club: we arranged a loan from Tobol with the right to buy."

In the match against Akron, Chesnokov received a yellow card in the 54th minute for a accumulation of fouls, and was substituted in the 64th minute for Vladislav Shitov, who scored the final goal in stoppage time.

Recall that in January 2026, Chesnokov moved to Hearts as a free agent, with whom he became vice-champion of Scotland. However, he failed to establish himself in the starting lineup of the Edinburgh club and returned to Tobol in June.

In the current RPL season, Chesnokov became the fourth Kazakhstani in the league. Baktiyar Zainutdinov from Moscow's Dynamo continues to recover from injuries, Maksim Samorodov played 4 matches for Akhmat, and Galymzhan Kenzhebek played 2. In the match between Akhmat and Rostov (4:1), the Kazakhstani players were not included in the squad of Stanislav Cherchesov's team.

Tonight, Zenit with Nuraly Alip will host Moscow's Spartak. Rumors have resurfaced about a possible transfer of Samorodov to the "red-whites".