Lithuanian A Lyga club FK Banga Gargždai have announced that team leader and long-time No.1 goalkeeper Mantas Bertašius will not be with the club next season, bringing an end to a six-year spell with the team.
The 25-year-old joined Banga in 2020 from Klaipėda Atlantas. Although he did not make a first-team appearance during his first two seasons, everything changed in the second half of the 2022 campaign when Bertašius established himself as the club’s starting goalkeeper. From that point on, he never looked back.
Over the following three and a half seasons, Bertašius made 132 appearances for Banga, keeping an impressive 44 clean sheets and becoming one of the most reliable players in the squad.
The 2025 season proved to be the finest of his career. In a Baltic Football News team voting Bertašius was named the best goalkeeper in the A Lyga and across all three Baltic leagues, conceding just 34 goals in 35 league matches and registering 12 clean sheets.
Last season, he played a key role in the greatest achievements in club history as FK Banga lifted the Lithuanian Cup in 2024, the first major trophy in the club’s history. That historic success earned Banga a debut appearance in UEFA competition, but their European journey ended with a defeat against Norwegian giants Rosenborg in the UEFA Conference League qualifiers this summer.
Bertašius, who has also earned one cap for the Lithuanian national team, is now expected to join a new club in the near future.
In an official statement, FK Banga Gargždai thanked the goalkeeper for his service by being grateful for his hard work and dedication in the time he spent here, while also wishing him good luck in his next club.
