Kelsy said signing a five-year contract with a club in a country at war was a surprisingly easy decision. The prospect of fulfilling a dream of making it to Europe trumped everything else, he said — even the lingering threat of Russian missiles and planes, the regular boom of air raid sirens and the rumble of distant explosions. However, his family had questions.
“When I told them, they asked, ‘Why Ukraine?'” he said in an interview in Spanish. “They knew everything that was happening, and there was a little bit of nervousness and a little bit of fear. But I talked to them about this theme, that it is very important for me to play football in Europe, in a big team like Shakhtar, and finally they understood.”
Like the many South Americans who have signed for Ukrainian clubs in the past, Kelsy sees the club as a springboard on a journey that he hopes will one day propel him to the club of his dreams, AC Milan. He knows that matches in elite competitions like the Champions League provide an elite podium to show he belongs. (Shakhtar, who led the Ukrainian league at the start of the weekend, is on track to return to the league next season.)
Palkin, the CEO of Shakhtar, has lost so many players and is now urging new recruits to sign contracts with clauses preventing them from abusing FIFA rules that could allow them to leave suddenly. Any player who signs up now, he said, certainly understands the commitment they’re making.
However, the pull to make it as a professional in Europe is so strong that Kelsy said not even war could stop him from coming. “I try not to think about it,” he said, “and focus on what matters now.”