Christopher Martins

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Martins and the second or paternal family name is Pereira.

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.

Christopher Martins

Martins with Spartak Moscow in 2022
Personal information
Full name	Christopher Martins Pereira[1]
Date of birth	(1997-02-19) 19 February 1997 (age 28)
Place of birth	Luxembourg City, Luxembourg[2]
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[3]
Position(s)	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	73	(11)
International career‡
2012	Luxembourg U17	6	(0)
2012	Luxembourg U19	3	(1)
2014	Luxembourg U21	2	(0)
2014–	Luxembourg	75	(1)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 23 August 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 27 March 2025

Club career

Martins is a youth exponent from Racing FC in Luxembourg City. He transferred to the Lyon Academy in 2013.^[4][3]

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.^[5]

Martins in 2018.

In June 2019 he signed for Swiss club Young Boys.^[6] 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.^[7] In their announcement of the transfer, Young Boys said that Spartak was expected to buy him out at the conclusion of the loan.^[8] 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.^[9] On 14 July 2025, Martins's contract with Spartak was extended to June 2028.^[10]

International career

Martins represented Luxembourg at youth international levels, playing for them in the under-17, under-19, and under-21 age groups.^[3][11]

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.^[12][13] After being called up again by Luxembourg, he made his debut on 8 September 2014, at the age of 17.^[14]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 23 August 2025

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Racing-Union	2012–13	Luxembourg National Division	8	0	—		—		—		8	0
Lyon B	2013–14	CFA 2	1	0	—		—		—		1	0
	2014–15	CFA 2	14	2	—		—		—		14	2
	2015–16	CFA 2	10	0	—		—		—		10	0
	2016–17	CFA 2	18	0	—		—		—		18	0
	2017–18	CFA 2	1	0	—		—		—		1	0
	2018–19	CFA 2	1	0	—		—		—		1	0
	Total		45	2	—		—		—		45	2
Lyon	2017–18	Ligue 1	2	0	—		0	0	—		2	0
FBBP01 (loan)	2017–18	Ligue 2	17	1	3	1	—		2[a]	0	22	2
Troyes (loan)	2018–19	Ligue 2	30	2	1	0	—		—		31	2
Young Boys	2019–20	Swiss Super League	22	2	3	1	3[b]	0	—		28	3
	2020–21	Swiss Super League	11	2	0	0	3[c]	0	—		14	2
	2021–22	Swiss Super League	15	0	1	0	10[d]	0	—		26	0
	Total		48	4	4	1	16	0	–		68	5
Young Boys U21	2019–20	1. Liga	1	0	—		—		—		1	0
Spartak Moscow (loan)	2021–22	Russian Premier League	10	1	4	0	—		—		14	1
Spartak Moscow	2022–23	Russian Premier League	18	2	5	1	—		—		23	3
	2023–24	Russian Premier League	26	4	11	1	—		—		37	5
	2024–25	Russian Premier League	23	3	10	6	—		—		33	9
	2025–26	Russian Premier League	6	2	1	0	—		—		7	2
	Total		73	11	27	8	0	0	0	0	100	19
Career total			234	21	39	10	16	0	2	0	291	31

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

International

As of 27 March 2025^[4]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Luxembourg	2014	4	0
	2015	6	0
	2016	7	0
	2017	8	0
	2018	8	1
	2019	5	0
	2020	2	0
	2021	9	0
	2022	6	0
	2023	9	0
	2024	9	0
	2025	2	0
Total		75	1

Scores and results list Luxembourg's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Martins goal.^[4]

List of international goals scored by Christopher Martins

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	8 September 2018	Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg	Moldova	4–0	4–0	2018–19 UEFA Nations League D

Honours

Young Boys

• Swiss Super League: 2019–20^[15]
• Swiss Cup: 2019–20^[16]

Spartak Moscow

• Russian Cup: 2021–22^[17]