Vladimir Volkov (footballer)

Vladimir Volkov (Владимир Волков; born 6 June 1986) is a former professional footballer. Born in Serbia, Volkov represented Montenegro internationally, having played for Serbia previously.

Early career
Born in Serbian capital Belgrade, back then still the Yugoslav capital, Volkov started playing football in youth categories of FK Radnički Beograd when he was seven years old. Later, already as a senior, he played for FK BSK Borča from 2006 to early 2008, when he was moved to Portimonense. After that, Volkov spent the first part of the 2008–09 season with OFK Beograd before moving to Moldovan champions FC Sheriff Tiraspol in 2009.

Partizan
Volkov was transferred to FK Partizan before the end of the 2010–11 season, signing a three-year contract on 14 May 2011. He quickly established himself as first choice of coaches Aleksandar Stanojević and Avram Grant mostly because of his good games in qualification stages of 2011–12 UEFA Champions League.

Mechelen
In summer 2015, Volkov signed a two-year deal with Belgian side Mechelen. He was officially presented the following day and was given the number 3 shirt.

Lech Poznań
On 30 January 2016, he was loaned to Lech Poznań on a half-year deal.

Radnički Niš
On 13 January 2017, Volkov signed with Radnički Niš. The official presentation was on 17 January at club media-center, where Volkov, Anid Travančić and Ryota Noma were presented as the first signings of the winter-break and crucial reinforcements of Radnički for the second half of the 2016–17 Serbian SuperLiga.

Rad
In January 2019, Volkov joined FK Rad.

International career
On 4 November 2011, the caretaker of the Serbia national team Radovan Ćurčić called-up Volkov for two friendly matches against Mexico and Honduras. He debuted on 15 November, playing the full match against Honduras.

Under new FIFA rules, a player who has dual citizenship and has played only one match for one of the two countries can change affiliation to play for the other national team. The Serbia "showed no interest", Volkov accepted Brnović's call up to the Montenegro national team. On 25 May 2012, Volkov made a debut for the Montenegro national team as a starter in a friendly match against Belgium. He earned a total of 17 caps, scoring no goals. His final international was a September 2015 European Championship qualification match against Liechtenstein.

Personal life
Born in Belgrade, Volkov grew up in the urban municipality of New Belgrade. Growing up in the neghbourhood, he was friends with Pavle Ninkov and Ivan Čvorović, both of whom would also go on to become professional footballers. As a curiosity, each one of the three ended up representing different national teams.

Volkov's paternal great-grandparents migrated from Russia to Serbia in 1917. Besides his native Serbian, he also speaks English, Portuguese, and Russian. As of 2017, he is in a relationship with Serbian singer Sandra Afrika.

Honours
Sheriff Tiraspol
 * Moldovan National Division: 2008–09, 2009–10
 * Moldovan Cup: 2008–09, 2009–10
 * CIS Cup: 2009

Partizan
 * Serbian SuperLiga: 2011–12, 2012–13, 2014–15