# Aleksandr Kokorin (Александр Александрович Кокорин)
**Aleksandr Kokorin** (Александр Александрович Кокорин; born Aleksandr Kartashov, 1991) is a Russian professional footballer who plays as a second striker and is currently a free agent after leaving Aris Limassol in May 2026. He is best known for two spells at Dynamo Moscow, three seasons at Zenit Saint Petersburg, a prison sentence in 2019, and a Cypriot championship with Aris Limassol, for whom he was named most valuable player of the 2022-23 season.[1](https://www.transfermarkt.us/aleksandr-kokorin/profil/spieler/89086) • [2](https://arisfc.com/en/news/a-tsar-for-aris/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1991, Valuyki, Belgorod Oblast; height 1.84 m; right-footed[1](https://www.transfermarkt.us/aleksandr-kokorin/profil/spieler/89086) |
| Position | Second striker; also attacking midfield and center-forward[1](https://www.transfermarkt.us/aleksandr-kokorin/profil/spieler/89086) |
| Clubs | Dynamo Moscow (2008-2013, 2013-2016), Zenit (2016-2019), Sochi loan, Spartak Moscow, Fiorentina, Aris Limassol (2022-2026)[2](https://arisfc.com/en/news/a-tsar-for-aris/) • [3](https://theanalyst.com/players/16391/aleksandr-kokorin/career) |
| Russia | 48 caps, 12 goals; Euro 2012, 2014 World Cup, Euro 2016[2](https://arisfc.com/en/news/a-tsar-for-aris/) |
| Breakthrough | 2012/13 at Dynamo: 13 goals in 26 league appearances, 10 assists, €19 million release clause[4](https://russianfootballnews.com/aleksandr-kokorin-career-rise-fall/) |
| Prison sentence | Sentenced on 8 May 2019 to 1 year and 6 months; released early in September 2019 after almost a year in custody[1](https://www.transfermarkt.us/aleksandr-kokorin/profil/spieler/89086) |
| Aris Limassol | 92 appearances, 33 goals, 17 assists in three years; Cyprus champion and MVP 2022-23[5](https://arisfc.com/en/news/aleksandr-kokorin-stays-green-2025-05-21/) |
| Status 2026 | Free agent since 1 June 2026; last match 22 May 2026 against AEK, scoring a penalty[6](https://www.sports.ru/football/blogs/3472848.html) |
## Early life and Dynamo Moscow
Kokorin was born in Valuyki, a town of about 35,000 inhabitants, and was introduced to football and boxing by his stepfather Kirill Loginov, who later became his agent. After a rejected trial at Spartak Moscow, he joined the Lokomotiv Moscow academy on a scholarship and lived at its boarding school from about the age of ten. He left [Lokomotiv](https://www.edgepedia.org/lokomotiv) after falling out with the club's new management and signed his first professional contract with Dynamo Moscow, which offered better financial terms and covered treatment for a knee injury.[4](https://russianfootballnews.com/aleksandr-kokorin-career-rise-fall/)
**Early debut.** He made his official Dynamo debut on 4 October 2008, at the age of 17.5, and became the youngest player ever to score for Dynamo in the [Russian Premier League](https://www.edgepedia.org/russian-premier-league), scoring in his first game and again in his next.[2](https://arisfc.com/en/news/a-tsar-for-aris/) • [4](https://russianfootballnews.com/aleksandr-kokorin-career-rise-fall/) Used often out of position under manager Miodrag Bozovic, he scored few goals in 2009 and went scoreless in 2010, but he played regularly from 2011-12 and won an award as the best young player in Russia.[4](https://russianfootballnews.com/aleksandr-kokorin-career-rise-fall/)
The 2012/13 season under [Dan Petrescu](https://www.edgepedia.org/dan-petrescu) was his breakthrough: 13 goals in 26 league appearances with 10 assists, important goals in the Europa League, and a new Dynamo contract carrying a €19 million release clause.[4](https://russianfootballnews.com/aleksandr-kokorin-career-rise-fall/)
## Anzhi, return to Dynamo, and Zenit
In July 2013 Anzhi Makhachkala met the €19 million release clause, and Kokorin's wage rose to about €4 million a year. He never played an official match for Anzhi: he was injured when he signed, and by August, when the whole Anzhi squad was put up for sale, Dynamo re-signed him for the same fee.[7](https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/transfers/aleksandr-kokorin-who-is-dynamo-msocw-striker-linked-with-arsenal-move-10472329.html) • [4](https://russianfootballnews.com/aleksandr-kokorin-career-rise-fall/) Back at Dynamo he earned about €5 million a year, making him one of the league's highest-paid players, and he was linked with Arsenal, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, and Paris Saint-Germain. He later said Arsenal wanted to take him on loan with an option to buy, but the move would have required renewing his Dynamo contract, which he declined to do.[4](https://russianfootballnews.com/aleksandr-kokorin-career-rise-fall/)
In January 2016 he joined Zenit Saint Petersburg for a bargain fee of about €2 million, taking a pay cut to €3.3 million a year under financial fair play rules. He began at Zenit mostly as a substitute but helped the club win the Russian Cup in his first season, scoring an important goal and earning a penalty in the final.[4](https://russianfootballnews.com/aleksandr-kokorin-career-rise-fall/)
**Best season.** Under Roberto Mancini in 2017/18, Kokorin was moved inside from the wing to his favored center-forward role and scored 10 league goals in 22 appearances, his best return in a Zenit league season.[3](https://theanalyst.com/players/16391/aleksandr-kokorin/career) • [8](https://inside.fifa.com/tournaments/mens/worldcup/2018russia/news/russia-relying-on-kokorin-for-world-cup-goals-2913988) Earlier that calendar year he had made his best-ever start to a season, with 15 goals in 18 matches, and returned to the national team after a year-long absence.[8](https://inside.fifa.com/tournaments/mens/worldcup/2018russia/news/russia-relying-on-kokorin-for-world-cup-goals-2913988) An injury then ended his season and ruled him out of the 2018 World Cup on home soil.[4](https://russianfootballnews.com/aleksandr-kokorin-career-rise-fall/)
## Prison sentence and late club career
In October 2018, after recovering from the injury, Kokorin took part in a series of assaults in Moscow together with his friend, the footballer Pavel Mamaev. He was sentenced on 8 May 2019 to 1 year and 6 months imprisonment and was released early in September 2019, having spent almost a year in custody in total.[1](https://www.transfermarkt.us/aleksandr-kokorin/profil/spieler/89086) • [4](https://russianfootballnews.com/aleksandr-kokorin-career-rise-fall/)
On his release he went on loan to Sochi for the second half of the 2019/20 season, scoring 7 league goals in 10 appearances, then signed with Spartak Moscow, where he scored 2 league goals in 8 appearances in 2020/21. In January 2021 he moved to Fiorentina in [Serie A](https://www.edgepedia.org/serie-a), where he made 10 league appearances over two and a half seasons without scoring.[3](https://theanalyst.com/players/16391/aleksandr-kokorin/career) • [2](https://arisfc.com/en/news/a-tsar-for-aris/)
## Aris Limassol
In August 2022 Kokorin joined Aris Limassol on loan from Fiorentina, later making the move permanent. In the 2022-23 season he scored 13 goals with 6 assists as Aris won the Cypriot championship for a historic title, and he was named the league's most valuable player.[9](https://arisfc.com/en/news/kokorin-is-back-2023-09-05/) He returned on loan for 2023/24, signed a one-year contract in 2024, and had his agreement extended for 2025-26 in May 2025. Across his three first years at the club he recorded 92 appearances in all competitions, 33 goals, and 17 assists, and he scored Aris's first-ever goal in a European competition group stage.[5](https://arisfc.com/en/news/aleksandr-kokorin-stays-green-2025-05-21/)
A muscle injury kept him out from 30 August 2025 to 3 January 2026, nearly four months. Aris announced on 20 May 2026 that he would leave at the end of the season; his contract expired on 31 May, and his last match was a 3-4 defeat to AEK on 22 May 2026, in which he scored from the penalty spot and said farewell to the team. He has been a free agent since 1 June 2026, has declined offers including two from Russian clubs, and has not announced his retirement.[6](https://www.sports.ru/football/blogs/3472848.html)
## Russia international
Kokorin made his senior debut for Russia in 2011 and played at Euro 2012, the 2014 [FIFA World Cup](https://www.edgepedia.org/fifa-world-cup), and Euro 2016, finishing with 48 caps and 12 goals.[2](https://arisfc.com/en/news/a-tsar-for-aris/) At the 2014 World Cup in Brazil he played all three group matches, 270 minutes, and scored once: a header in the sixth minute of the decisive final group game against Algeria, which Russia led until conceding late in a 1-1 draw that eliminated the team.[8](https://inside.fifa.com/tournaments/mens/worldcup/2018russia/news/russia-relying-on-kokorin-for-world-cup-goals-2913988) He was left out of the squad for the 2017 Confederations Cup by coach [Stanislav Cherchesov](https://www.edgepedia.org/stanislav-cherchesov) and returned to the team that October.[8](https://inside.fifa.com/tournaments/mens/worldcup/2018russia/news/russia-relying-on-kokorin-for-world-cup-goals-2913988) His injury in 2018 cost him a place at the home World Cup.[4](https://russianfootballnews.com/aleksandr-kokorin-career-rise-fall/)
## Earnings and life after Aris
Kokorin's salaries declined steadily over his career. At Dynamo after the Anzhi episode he earned about €5 million a year, and at Zenit about €9 million over nearly three seasons; at Fiorentina his salary reached about €1.8 million a year, part of which the club continued to pay during his loan in Cyprus. His final Aris contract, extended in 2024, paid about €1 million a year, roughly €83,000 a month.[10](https://www.sports-ru.com/football/blogs/3492744.html)
With no club contract in 2026, he registered an individual business on 2 July 2026 for distributing advertising through social networks, a legal form for income from sponsored posts, and has been selling property including two cottages in Sochi with an asking price of nearly 1 billion rubles.[6](https://www.sports.ru/football/blogs/3472848.html) • [10](https://www.sports-ru.com/football/blogs/3492744.html)
## References
1. [Aleksandr Kokorin - Player profile, Transfermarkt](https://www.transfermarkt.us/aleksandr-kokorin/profil/spieler/89086)
2. [A Tsar for Aris, Aris Limassol FC](https://arisfc.com/en/news/a-tsar-for-aris/)
3. [Aleksandr Kokorin Career History, Opta Analyst](https://theanalyst.com/players/16391/aleksandr-kokorin/career)
4. [The Rise And Fall Of Aleksandr Kokorin, Russian Football News](https://russianfootballnews.com/aleksandr-kokorin-career-rise-fall/)
5. [Aleksandr Kokorin stays "Green"!, Aris Limassol FC](https://arisfc.com/en/news/aleksandr-kokorin-stays-green-2025-05-21/)
6. [Где сейчас играет Александр Кокорин, Sports.ru](https://www.sports.ru/football/blogs/3472848.html)
7. [Aleksandr Kokorin: who is the Dynamo Moscow striker linked with Arsenal move?, The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/transfers/aleksandr-kokorin-who-is-dynamo-msocw-striker-linked-with-arsenal-move-10472329.html)
8. [Russia relying on Kokorin for World Cup goals, FIFA](https://inside.fifa.com/tournaments/mens/worldcup/2018russia/news/russia-relying-on-kokorin-for-world-cup-goals-2913988)
9. [Kokorin is back!, Aris Limassol FC](https://arisfc.com/en/news/kokorin-is-back-2023-09-05/)
10. [Сколько зарабатывает Кокорин в 2026 году, Sports.ru](https://www.sports-ru.com/football/blogs/3492744.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Association football › Football people and teams › People › Men's footballers of continental Europe › Former Soviet footballers*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license