Nine foreign players in the Viagem squad: a Gabonese gem, a tall player and a relative of the famous Kohout

Our club’s strategy is clear: to seek out promising players in overseas markets, where they may be more accessible to the second division, to develop them further and, ideally, to sell them on later at the highest possible profit. In this respect, Viagem operates in a similar way to the property market, which is the domain of our parent company.

Jakub Dobiáš, the executive director of the sports division, plays a key role in this football business; he utilises data analytics and also focuses on less traditional markets and lower-tier competitions. “We look for players where there is a clear fit between their profile and our style of play. If there isn’t, we don’t go ahead with it,” explained Dobiáš, who has previously worked for Slavia Prague.

We also make sure to help foreign signings adapt to life in the Czech Republic. Every new player receives a practical guide designed to help them find their feet in an unfamiliar environment and cope with their first few weeks after arriving in the country. In this way, the club aims to minimise cultural differences and create the best possible conditions for the players so that they can focus primarily on football as quickly as possible. “When the lads arrive from Africa, they need a really detailed manual covering everything from the moment they land at the airport right through to what they’ll be doing on their first evening. We’ve prepared an 18-page manual for this. The idea is to follow it to the letter, which will certainly significantly increase the success rate of these players’ transition to our club,” revealed owner Přemysl Kubáň in the club’s podcast.

Alan Do Marcolino is currently attracting the most attention. The 24-year-old Gabonese striker stands at 194 centimetres, yet he is not just a classic tall forward. He came through the Stade Rennes academy, played in France’s Ligue 1 and demonstrated his goal-scoring potential here during the spring – netting six goals in 14 second-tier matches. It is therefore no surprise that league clubs were interested in him. Kubáň confirmed that the club received an offer in excess of 15 million crowns, but decided to turn it down. “We received at least one concrete offer for him; it would have been a record sum in the history of Ústí football, but we turned it down. Everyone is for sale; that’s the nature of the business for sports clubs, certainly ours at the very least,” Kubáň told the iDnes.cz website. We believe that if Do Marcolino continues to perform well in the autumn, his value will rise even further.

We’ve made a very good start to the season; after four rounds, we have eight points. Were it not for the points dropped against the newcomers, we’d be sitting comfortably at the top of the table. Fans can watch not only Do Marcolino, but the whole of this unconventionally assembled team, as early as Friday evening against Dukla.

A complete overview of the foreign players in Viagem’s squad:

• Goalkeeper – yet to make a start this season, valued at 150,000 euros. He arrived in Ústí following a successful season at FK Loznica, where he was one of the best goalkeepers in Serbia’s second-tier league and kept ten clean sheets. According to official figures, he is 202 centimetres tall, but Jakub Dobiáš claims that he is actually four centimetres taller. He also has experience in Serbia’s top flight, where he played for Mladost Lučani and Zlatibor; he made seventeen league appearances for Loznica in the 2025/26 season.
• Defender – yet to make a start, valued at 25,000 euros. He joined Ústí in the summer of 2026 from the reserves of Spanish side Castellón; prior to that, he was part of the Levante academy and played for Atlético Levante, where he made 29 appearances in the 2023/24 season. Last season, he played 20 matches and 1,559 minutes for Castellón B in Spain’s fourth-tier league, and also made one start for Castellón’s first team in the second division.
• Defender – he featured in all four matches, playing the full 360 minutes; his market value is not listed. He moved to Europe as an 18-year-old prospect from Salitas in Burkina Faso, where he played in the top domestic league and the African Confederation Cup. In 2022, he was signed by French side Grenoble, where he played in Ligue 2, and later played for Portuguese side Torreense. At the age of just 17, he received a call-up to the Burkina Faso senior national team.
• Midfielder – made four appearances, totalling 67 minutes, valued at 200,000 euros. He arrived in the Czech Republic in 2023 from Nigeria via the Portuguese club Operário Lagoa to join FK Varnsdorf, for whom he played 38 second-division matches. In the summer of 2025, he moved to Ústí, where he signed a contract running until June 2027. In the 2025/26 season, he made 29 league appearances and was selected for the Chance National League team of the round.
• Midfielder – one start, 17 minutes, valued at 200,000 euros. He arrived in the summer of 2026 from Dinamo Tbilisi, having come through their academy and made his first-team debut in April 2024. He made dozens of starts in the Georgian top flight, represented Georgia at levels from U17 to U21, and played 22 matches for the U19s, scoring two goals. Before joining us, he was on loan at Samgurali Tskaltubo.
• Midfielder – one match, 16 minutes, transfer fee of 300,000 euros. A product of the PSV Eindhoven academy with Surinamese roots, he is a left-footed player who is most effective in the number 10 role. He made 49 appearances and scored 14 goals for Jong PSV. He joined us from Belgian side Zulte Waregem, having made 84 starts, scored 16 goals and provided 15 assists in the Dutch second division. He is a distant cousin of Xavi Simons.
• Forward – four matches, 328 minutes, three goals – Ústí’s top foreign goalscorer so far, valued at 150,000 euros. The Belgian, who has Congolese roots, joined in August 2025 from OH Leuven, where he made 53 appearances for the reserves and scored 23 goals. He also came through the youth ranks at Brugge and Gent, and represented the Belgian youth national teams from U15 to U18. His younger brother Stanis plays for AS Monaco.
• Forward – three matches, 51 minutes, value €25,000. He joined in September 2025 from the African club SF Cascades, aged just 18 at the time. Last season, he featured in six Chance National League matches; during the 2026 pre-season, he scored a goal in a 7–1 win over Chomutov. His contract runs until June 2028.
• Forward (Alan Do Marcolino) – all four matches, 267 minutes, two goals, valued at 300,000 euros. He joined in February 2026 from Portuguese side Lusitânia, having come through the ranks at the Stade Rennes academy, where he signed a professional contract in 2022 and made three Ligue 1 appearances. He went out on loan to Quevilly-Rouen and Orléans. His father is former Gabon international Fabrice Do Marcolino. He has represented Gabon since 2022 and has played alongside Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for the national team.