Christopher Martins

Christopher Martins
Martins with Spartak Moscow in 2022
Personal information
Full name Christopher Martins Pereira
Date of birth (1997-02-19) 19 February 1997 (age 29)
Place of birth Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Spartak Moscow
Number 35
Youth career
Racing FC
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2013 Racing FC 8 (0)
2013–2019 Lyon B 45 (2)
2017–2019 Lyon 2 (0)
2017–2018 → Bourg-Péronnas (loan) 17 (1)
2018–2019 → Troyes (loan) 30 (2)
2019–2022 Young Boys 48 (4)
2022 → Spartak Moscow (loan) 10 (1)
2022– Spartak Moscow 97 (14)
International career‡
2012 Luxembourg U17 6 (0)
2012 Luxembourg U19 3 (1)
2014 Luxembourg U21 2 (0)
2014– Luxembourg 83 (1)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 9 August 2026
‡ National team caps and goals as of 6 June 2026

Christopher Martins Pereira (born 19 February 1997) is a Luxembourgish professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder or central midfielder for Russian Premier League club Spartak Moscow and the Luxembourg national team.

Club career

Martins is a youth exponent from Racing FC in Luxembourg City. He transferred to the Lyon Academy in 2013.

Martins made his Lyon debut on 10 September 2017 in a Ligue 1 match against Guingamp. He started the match and was replaced by Jordan Ferri after 51 minutes in a 2–1 home win.

Martins in 2018.

In June 2019 he signed for Swiss club Young Boys. He won both the 2019-20 and 2020-21 Swiss Super Leagues with the club.

On 31 January 2022, he joined Russian giants Spartak Moscow on a short-term loan. In their announcement of the transfer, Young Boys said that Spartak was expected to buy him out at the conclusion of the loan. Martins won the Russian Cup on 29 May 2022, with him starting in the 2-1 final victory against Dynamo Moscow in what is known as the Oldest Russian derby. On 3 June 2022, Spartak confirmed Martins' permanent transfer, and his signing until 2026. On 14 July 2025, Martins's contract with Spartak was extended to June 2028.

International career

Martins represented Luxembourg at youth international levels, playing for them in the under-17, under-19, and under-21 age groups.

He was eligible to represent either Luxembourg, France, or Cape Verde at international level; he rejected a call-up from Luxembourg's senior team in March 2013 as he had not decided which nation he wished to represent. After being called up again by Luxembourg, he made his debut on 8 September 2014, at the age of 17.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 9 August 2026
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Racing-Union 2012–13 Luxembourg National Division 80———80
Lyon B 2013–14 CFA 2 10———10
2014–15 CFA 2 142———142
2015–16 CFA 2 100———100
2016–17 CFA 2 180———180
2017–18 CFA 2 10———10
2018–19 CFA 2 10———10
Total 452———452
Lyon 2017–18 Ligue 1 20—00—20
FBBP01 (loan) 2017–18 Ligue 2 17131—20222
Troyes (loan) 2018–19 Ligue 2 30210——312
Young Boys 2019–20 Swiss Super League 2223130—283
2020–21 Swiss Super League 1120030—142
2021–22 Swiss Super League 15010100—260
Total 48441160–685
Young Boys U21 2019–20 1. Liga 10———10
Spartak Moscow (loan) 2021–22 Russian Premier League 10140——141
Spartak Moscow 2022–23 Russian Premier League 18251——233
2023–24 Russian Premier League 264111——375
2024–25 Russian Premier League 233106——339
2025–26 Russian Premier League 27491——365
2026–27 Russian Premier League 3110—1152
Total 9714369001113424
Career total 2582548111603132536
  1. ↑ Appearances in Ligue 2 relegation play-offs
  2. ↑ One appearance in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League
  3. ↑ Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, one appearance in UEFA Europa League
  4. ↑ Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  5. ↑ Appearance in Russian Super Cup

International

As of 6 June 2026
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Luxembourg 201440
201560
201670
201780
201881
201950
202020
202190
202260
202390
202490
202560
202640
Total831
Scores and results list Luxembourg's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Martins goal.
List of international goals scored by Christopher Martins
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
18 September 2018Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg Moldova4–04–02018–19 UEFA Nations League D

Honours

Young Boys

Spartak Moscow

References

  1. ↑ "UEFA Nations League 2021: Booking List before League phase Matchday 6" (PDF). UEFA. 16 November 2020. p. 9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 March 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  2. ↑ "Christopher Martins Pereira". OL Web (in French). Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 Christopher Martins Pereira at Soccerway. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 "Christopher Martins Pereira". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
  5. ↑ "Lyon vs. Guingamp - 10 September 2017 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  6. ↑ "L'OL vend Christopher Martins Pereira aux Young Boys de Berne". 13 June 2019.
  7. ↑ "Кристофер Мартинс — новый игрок "Спартака"!" (in Russian). FC Spartak Moscow. 31 January 2022.
  8. ↑ "Martins wechselt zu Spartak Moskau" (in German). Young Boys. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  9. ↑ ""Спартак" выкупил трансфер Мартинса у "Янг Бойз"" (in Russian). FC Spartak Moscow. 3 June 2022.
  10. ↑ "Контракт с Мартинсом продлен!" (in Russian). FC Spartak Moscow. 14 July 2025. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  11. ↑ Christopher Martins – UEFA competition record (archive)
  12. ↑ "Christopher Martins-Pereira convoqué avec le Luxembourg" (in French). Le Libéro Lyon. 27 August 2014. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
  13. ↑ "L'énigme Christopher Martins-Pereira" (in French). Le Libéro Lyon. 6 September 2014. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
  14. ↑ Didier Hiégel (8 September 2014). "De l'audace, de l'audace encore de l'audace" (in French). Luxemburger Wort. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
  15. ↑ "Young Boys wins Swiss league title in 54th week of season". Washington Post. Associated Press. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  16. ↑ "Schweizerischer Fussballverband - Statistik und Resultate". www.football.ch (in German). Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  17. ↑ ""Спартак" обыграл "Динамо" и стал 4-кратным победителем Кубка России" (in Russian). Russian Premier League. 29 May 2022.
  18. ↑ ""Спартак" – обладатель FONBET Кубка России 2025/26" [Spartak is the winner of FONBET Russian Cup 2025–26] (in Russian). Russian Football Union. 24 May 2026.