by Mantas Aliukonis
During Vilma Venslovaitienė’s period at the helm of Vilnius Žalgiris, the club remained the dominant force in Lithuanian football. Yet alongside titles and European campaigns, a recurring pattern emerged: a number of highly regarded Lithuanian talents passed through the club without ever truly establishing themselves.
This article revisits some of the most notable cases. All players listed were contacted for comment, but most declined to speak in detail about their time at the club. Only Meinardas Mikulėnas agreed to address his experience openly. Statistical data is based on Transfermarkt and other publicly available sources.
1. Lukas Lidakevičius (goalkeeper)
A former Lithuania U21 international goalkeeper, Lidakevičius joined Žalgiris in the summer of 2013 after spending three years at English Championship side Barnsley. At the time, then sporting director Mindaugas Nikoličius described him as a highly talented youth international who would “certainly get his opportunity.”
That opportunity never came. After several seasons spent largely on the bench, Lidakevičius failed to make a single senior appearance. In the summer of 2015, his contract was terminated by mutual consent. A graduate of the National Football Academy, he subsequently decided to end his playing career at just 22. The decision to swap the English Championship for a far weaker A Lyga remains difficult to explain in hindsight.
2. Romualdas Jansonas (forward)
A product of Žalgiris academy, Jansonas never managed to break through at senior level. Over two seasons from 2022, he scored just two goals in 47 appearances for the club. During the 2024 season he barely featured and parted ways with Žalgiris the following winter at the age of 19.
3. Simonas Stankevičius (forward)
Originally from Panevėžys and later developed at the National Football Academy, Stankevičius attracted attention from English scouts while playing for Lithuania’s youth national teams. A senior debut at Leicester City never materialised, and he joined Žalgiris in early 2016 full of optimism, hoping to form a strong partnership with then head coach Valdas Dambrauskas.
Circumstances did not align. After just half a season, he left on loan to Croatia. In ten matches for Žalgiris he scored once, and in 2017 he ended his career, citing a loss of love for football and internal struggles.
4. Meinardas Mikulėnas (forward)
A Lithuanian youth international, Mikulėnas played 27 matches and scored four goals for Žalgiris between 2019 and 2022. He made his debut at 17 away to Atlantas Klaipėda under head coach Marek Zub. In later seasons he was repeatedly sent out on loan, often to the same clubs as Motiejus Burba.
The 2019 season proved turbulent for the entire organisation, with major changes in club management and three different head coaches during the year. Žalgiris won no trophies, which may have affected squad stability and Mikulėnas’ integration.
Last season, playing for Riteriai, Mikulėnas appeared to rediscover confidence, producing a solid campaign.
He was the only player willing to speak openly about his time at Žalgiris:
“At Žalgiris, the situation is simple – the ones who score goals play. When you’re young, it’s hard to prove yourself just by playing consistently and avoiding mistakes. There’s no stability; you don’t know when you’ll get on the pitch, and that doesn’t help confidence. But you always have to be ready, because eventually your chance will come. At Žalgiris, the strongest play – if you score, you play.”
Mikulėnas also pointed to limited playing time as a key factor:
“A lot depends on minutes on the pitch. I often came on as a substitute, which made it harder to find rhythm. There was strong competition everywhere I played, and that sometimes held me back.”
He did not criticise the club’s former leadership:
“Personally, everything with Vilma was fine. We parted on good terms. She always helped as much as she could, finding loan clubs for me.”
5. Daniel Ramanovskij (central / attacking midfielder)
Ramanovskij debuted in the first team in 2014, playing 19 matches and scoring five goals in the LFF Cup that season. Despite early promise, he failed to establish himself and was sent out on loan in mid-2016. He briefly returned in 2017, but left again by mutual consent the following year and moved to Serbia as a free agent.
Across nearly four seasons, he made 25 A Lyga appearances for Žalgiris without scoring. Since 2022, he has represented Šiauliai intermittently.
6. Karolis Uzėla (defensive midfielder)
Between 2017 and 2021, Uzėla scored six goals in 50 A Lyga matches for Žalgiris. His career stalled after unsuccessful spells at SPAL in Italy and RFS in Latvia.
His agent Valerijus Mižigurskis once described the situation bluntly:
“We haven’t had many players with this level of potential. But they don’t play, and the question is why? And what can you do? It’s a private club – neither the federation nor anyone else can intervene. There’s a contract, and that’s it.”
Uzėla’s career ended at 25 due to chronic injuries and pain.
7. Motiejus Burba (right midfielder)
A Žalgiris academy graduate and regular youth international, Burba remained under contract with Žalgiris until this year but rarely featured consistently. Between 2020 and 2025 he made 31 league appearances, mostly as a substitute, while spending most seasons out on loan.
8. Nauris Petkevičius (forward)
After an unsuccessful period in Belgium, where he changed clubs twice, Petkevičius returned to Lithuania but failed to establish himself under head coach Vladimir Cheburin. He played nine matches without scoring and left in mid-2023, admitting he did not understand why he was not given opportunities despite being fit.
His former agent Alan Gulbinas pointed to a problematic loan move in Belgium as a turning point:
“From that moment, everything started going downhill.”
Petkevičius is now attempting to rebuild his career at his fourth A Lyga club since returning to Lithuania.
9. Matas Vareika (left / attacking midfielder)
Vareika impressed in his debut 2019 season, scoring four goals in 21 matches. However, over the next four seasons, including the COVID-affected year, he played just 14 league matches and scored once.
In early 2024, he won a legal case against Žalgiris over internal club rule violations, with the LFF Appeals Committee ruling in his favour. After moving to Hegelmann, he scored against his former club and celebrated provocatively. Persistent injuries and emotional discipline issues hampered his time in Vilnius.
10. Gustas Jarusevičius (right midfielder)
Jarusevičius attracted Žalgiris’ attention at 15 and scored twice against Atlantas at 16. Over six years, he made 86 league appearances and scored nine goals.
Under Cheburin, Lithuanian players – especially young ones – were given limited chances. In an infamous 2021 match against Banga, Žalgiris fielded an entirely foreign starting XI. Despite frustration, the 22-year-old appears inclined to remain with the club and attempt to defy expectations.
Together, these cases underline a recurring dilemma at Žalgiris during that period: sporting success at the top level, but persistent difficulty in integrating and sustaining domestic talent.
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