Ilya Maksimov

Ilya Maksimov was born on 2 February 1987 in Nizhny Novgorod.

He started playing football in his hometown at the age of six. He first was trained under the guidance of Andrei Reutov, continued his football education at the FC Spartak Moscow youth football academy and later moved to Saint Petersburg.

In 2006, Maksimov was offered to join FC Zenit and signed his first professional contract with the club. The same year he made his debut in the Russian Premier League. During the victorious 2007 season Maksimov took part in 6 matches of the first-team and helped FC Zenit to become the Russian Premier League champions.

In February 2008 the player moved on loan to Shinnik Yaroslavl, but managed to feature in only one game. In the summer of 2008 Ilya was sent on loan to the Russian First Division side FC Sportakademklub Moscow. In 2009 the player had another loan spell, this time at FC Khimki. During the 2010 season Maksimov played for FC Nizhny Novgorod in the Russian First Division.

In January 2011 the footballer signed a three-year deal with FC Kuban, where he debuted in a Russian Premiere League fixture against FC Rubin. Eight months later Maksimov was transferred to FC Volga Nizhny Novgorod. In 2013 Ilya penned a new deal with Krylia Sovetov but shortly afterwards switched for Anzhi Makhachkala.

At the international level Ilya Maksimov represented both U19 and U21 Russia national football teams. In 2011, he earned one cap to the Russia-2 national team.