Nerijus Valskis

Nerijus Valskis (born 4 August 1987) is a Lithuanian former professional footballer who played as a forward.

Club career Earlier career Valskis began his senior club career in 2005 at FK Žalgiris of Lithuanian A Lyga, where he made 11 appearances before moving to Kauno Jėgeriai. During 2007–2008 season, he appeared for FK Šilutė and scored 4 goals in 37 league matches. He later moved to another A Lyga outfit FBK Kaunas, where he scored 17 goals in two different seasons (2008 and 2010).

Belarus and Latvia In 2009, he arrived in Belarus and signed with Belarusian Premier League side FC Smorgon. In 2011, he played for FC Smorgon in the Latvian Higher League where he scored 8 goals in 27 league matches. He then came back to Belarus with Minsk and he was in the 2011–12 Belarusian Cup Runners-up squad.

Lithuania After several successful stints in foreign clubs, he returned to Lithuania and signed with giants FK Sūduva. During the 2013 A Lyga season, while playing for Sūduva, Valskis was awarded the Best Player and was also the league's leading scorer with 27 goals. With the club, He scored 24 goals in 43 league matches. Valskis was in FK Riteriai's squad in that season, which finished runners-up in their domestic tournaments; A Lyga, Lithuanian Supercup and Lithuanian Football Cup.

More foreign stints He went to Israel and played for Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv in the 2017–2018 season. Valskis was part of Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv squad which won the Israeli State Cup in 2017.

Valskis in 2018, moved to Thailand and appeared with Ratchaburi Mitr Phol in 15 Thai League 1 matches, scoring 9 goals.

Israel After his previous appearances with Israeli side Bnei Yehuda, Valskis again came back to Israeli Premier League with Hapoel Tel Aviv in 2019. He signed for Hapoel Tel Aviv on a short-term contract until the end of the 2018–19 Israeli Premier League season.

On 21 August 2020, after parting ways with Chennaiyin, Valskis signed a two-year contract with fellow Super League club Jamshedpur FC, reuniting with former boss Owen Coyle. He scored 8 goals for Jamshedpur in the 2020–21 Indian Super League season.

He returned to Chennaiyin on 1 January 2022 in the mid season of ISL 2021–22.

Retirement from professional football On 26 February 2024, Valskis announced his retirement from professional football.

International career While playing for FK Sūduva, Valskis was called up in the national squad of Lithuania in 2013. He made his debut on 11 October, against Latvia in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification match.

He scored his only goal for his country against Estonia in the 2016 Baltic Cup. In that competition, Lithuania finished as the Runners-up.

From 2013, he has appeared in 24 international matches and represented Lithuania in competitions like Baltic Cup and UEFA Nations League alongside Euro Cup, 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

Career statistics Club + Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Honours FBK Kaunas Latvian Football Cup: 2007–08 Baltic League: 2008

Liepājas Metalurgs Latvian Football Cup runner-up: 2010–11

Minsk Belarusian Cup runner-up: 2011–12

Riteriai A Lyga runner-up: 2015, 2016 Lithuanian Cup runner-up: 2016 Lithuanian Supercup runner-up: 2016

Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv Israel State Cup: 2016–17

Chennaiyin Indian Super League runner-up: 2019–20

Lithuania Baltic Cup runner-up: 2016

Individual A Lyga top scorer: 2013 (27 goals)