Oleg Salenko on his son’s debut for the first team of Dynamo: "It was all leading to this"

Former forward of Kiev’s Dynamo Oleg Salenko commented on the debut of his son, Roman Salenko, in the first team of the "white-blues," which took place during the Saturday match of the 14th round of the Ukrainian Championship against Odessa’s "Chornomorets" (3:1).

— Finally, my son made his debut in the main team, — he said. — And it’s nice that the match result was favorable. He didn’t have much playing time, but at least he ran around a bit and felt the game of the main "Dynamo". Roman is currently in a period where he is already training with the first team, and everything was leading to this.

— How do you assess Roman’s prospects in general?

— Right now, time is needed to wait for the gradual steps in his Dynamo career. He will continue to play for "Dynamo U-19" and gradually approach the first team. I talked with the coaching staff of the nearest reserve about my son. He has the opportunity to gradually get closer to the main team, as there will be player transfers and over time there will be a need to refresh the squad. Roman has good potential, plus, he is still young. There is perspective.

— What do you say about the role of Junior Salenko, which differs from Senior Salenko's functions?

— We just found a place for him — "behind the forwards". Roma plays more in defense. Before that, he played as a holding midfielder. Roman knows his responsibilities on the field and will gradually get used to playing with the team. I hope that over time he will manage to get into Dynamo’s main squad. Meanwhile, everything is going according to plan: the son is in the lineup of the Dynamo U-19 team and is going to the UEFA Youth League match in Poland.

— Have you already discussed your son’s debut in the UPL with the head coach of Dynamo, Alexander Shovkovsky?

— No. The main team coaches are doing their job well. I mostly go to the matches of "Dynamo U-19" — I communicate with its management there.

Andrey Pisarenko