Arvydas Novikovas


Arvydas Novikovas is a Lithuanian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Ekstraklasa club Legia Warsaw.

Club career

Novikovas started his professional football career in Lithuania, his hometown of Vilnius. He first played for the youth side of FK Vilnius and on loan to sister-club Interas-AE Visaginas. At the time in Lithuania, he impressed while on trial with Benfica, but decided to stay at the club.

Hearts

In September 2008, Novikovas signed for Hearts. He made his first team debut for Hearts in the last game of the 2008–09 Scottish Premier League season, a goalless draw against Celtic, coming on as a substitute in the 51st minute for David Templeton.
In the 2009–10 season, Novikovas earned a first team place, though spending most of the time on the bench, in most matches. Towards the end of the season, Novikovas signed a contract with the club, a three-year deal which would keep him in Edinburgh until 2013.
Still very young, Arvydas suffered a serious injury and upon his return, he was sent to play some games for Hearts reserve and feeder team Tynecastle FC. There he was injured again after a horror tackle by a dashing Bally, which delayed his return to the Hearts first team.
In the 2010–11 season, his playing time in the first team was still slender. Despite the first team lack of opportunities, he scored his first league goal for Hearts in the 5–0 win over Aberdeen at Tynecastle on 11 December 2010. Throughout the remainder of the 2010–11 season, he went on loan to Scottish Premier League's rivals St Johnstone.
In the 2011–12 season, on 13 August 2011, he struck his second goal for Hearts, again against Aberdeen, after starting the game up front alongside John Sutton, who scored the other two goals in a 3–0 victory for Hearts. A week after scoring his second goal, he made his European debut, playing the entire game in the second leg of the UEFA Europa League Qualification Round, a goalless draw against Tottenham Hotspur, which eliminated Hearts after a 5–0 loss in the first leg. He's been in and out of the first team ever since joining the club. In a 2–2 draw with Dundee United, Novikovas came off the bench to score an equaliser, his third goal for the club. After the match, Novikovas said his equaliser against Dundee United was the best he had ever scored.
In the 2012–13 season, Novikovas first team opportunities started to increase, following the departure of a bunch of players. He scored his fourth goal for the club in a 2–2 draw against Inverness Caledonian Thistle on 18 August 2012 and played both legs in the Europa League Qualification Round against Liverpool, which proved to be too strong for the Scottish side. Still the Edinburgh-based team pulled out a 1–1 draw in the second leg. In March 2013, Novikovas was then included in the substitute bench for the final of the Scottish League Cup against St Mirren and would come on for Jamie Walker on the 64th minute, as Hearts lost 3–2.
The official Hearts website announced that he had left the club to pursue his career elsewhere on 31 May 2013. After his departure, Edinburgh Evening News reported that if Novikovas joined a new club, the club would receive £100,000 compensation.

St Johnstone (loan)

On the last day of the January 2011 transfer window, he went on loan to St Johnstone until the end of the 2010–11 season. Novikovas made his debut for St Johnstone in their 2–0 victory over Hamilton on 1 February. In all he made six appearances for the Perth side.

FC Erzgebirge Aue

On 22 June 2013, it was announced that Novikovas signed a three-year deal with Erzgebirge Aue. It is thought that Novikovas was signed as Jan Hochscheidt replacement who has moved to Eintracht Braunschweig. During first league match for his new team Novikovas received two yellow cards and was sent off. In fourth league match for Aue he scored double, helping team to reach 2–1 victory over FC Energie Cottbus.

Vfl Bochum

On the 24th of July 2015, Vfl Bochum announced that they signed Arvydas Novikovas for free from FC Erzgebirge Aue on a 2-year deal Novikovas played 20 games for Vfl Bochum, providing only 1 assist on his stay there. On the 12th of January 2017, Vfl Bochum confirmed that Novikovas has left for Jagiellonia Białystok on a free.

Jagiellonia Białystok

Novikovas joined Jagiellonia Białystok on a free, signing a contract until the 31st of December, 2019. Novikovas was given the number 9 and was immediately a starter. During his 2 season there he has helped Jagiellonia Białystok finish 2nd twice in a row. He has scored 16 goals and provided 12 assists in the 58 games he has played for them, starting the 2018/19 season with 3 goals and 2 assists in his first 9 games.

International career

Novikovas represented the Lithuania under-21's when he was just a 16-year-old.
In May 2009, he was called up to the Lithuania squad, for their FIFA World Cup qualifier with Romania. On 9 September, Novikovas scored for Lithuania under-21s 1–1 against Macedonia under-21 in the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification Group 9 match.
On 25 May 2010, he gained his first cap against Ukraine in Kharkiv.

International goals

No.DateVenueCapOpponentScoreResultCompetition
129 May 2014Olimpiskais Stadions, Ventspils, Latvia161–01–02014 Baltic Cup
28 September 2014San Marino Stadium, Serravalle, San Marino192–02–0UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
39 October 2015Stožice Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia261–11–1UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
411 October 2016LFF Stadium, Vilnius, Lithuania332–02–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
510 June 2017LFF Stadium, Vilnius, Lithuania371–21–22018 FIFA World Cup qualification
67 June 2019LFF Stadium, Vilnius, Lithuania531–11–1UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
710 June 2019Red Star Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia541–31–4UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
817 November 2019LFF Stadium, Vilnius, Lithuania581–01–0Friendly

Career statistics

Club

International