Translated material
Arshavin's transit to Europe
Literally today, Arsh can finally become a player for London's Arsenal. Or maybe it won't. For the last six months, the public, following the progress of this cheap melodrama, has been discussing not so much the career prospects of Arshavin’s player, but rather the income and losses that his real or imaginary agents, Zenit himself and the footballer himself will suffer from a possible deal. The lack of a transparent system of transactions in European football, coupled with even more exotic rules for running a football business in Russia in general and Zenit St. Petersburg in particular, leads to the fact that the player becomes a hostage to his own ambitions and shadow business.
I have not the slightest doubt that Arsenal, if Arshavin does move there, will not pay him more than Zenit. But there are serious doubts that the most talented Russian footballer of the decade will be able to become a starter for the Gunners and maintain the playing tone necessary to maintain his position in the Russian national team. Although it is the fate of the football player Arshavin that is the main thing in this painful parting of Zenit with its symbol of recent years, painful for all parties.
In general, the ability to manage your career - both from the point of view of choosing agents and from the point of view of choosing a club - is one of the most important properties of outstanding football players. Especially in modern football, where big or very big money, ambition and even personal life can ruin a career more than serious injuries.
Before your eyes there are several relatively recent examples of how to and how not to manage your career. Among the unsuccessful examples are Shevchenko, Beckham and Alexander Gleb. One of the successful ones is Kaka.
Under the influence of his American wife, who wanted to live in an English-speaking country, and best of all in London, as well as personal friendship with Roman Abramovich, Andrei Shevchenko replaced Milan, where he could become the top scorer in the history of the club and where he found a real football home, to “ Chelsea." And now, having suffered enough at Chelsea, he sits firmly on the bench in Milan - there are now different leaders there.
David Beckham, also largely due to family circumstances, was forced to exchange Real Madrid for an honorable and very expensive football pension at the Los Angeles Galaxy. He still dreams of playing for England at the 2010 World Cup and therefore agreed to spend three months on loan with Milan during the American off-season, where he clearly enjoys playing. But his wife Victoria does not want their three sons to stay in Italy, since they do not know Italian, and the American club, which paid huge amounts of money for the main pop character of the football scene, categorically does not want Beckham to remain in Milan forever. Meanwhile, this option would be most suitable for the player himself. The wonderful Belarusian midfielder-passer Alexander Gleb exchanged Arsenal, where he fit perfectly into the game scheme and was one of the key organizers of the game, for Barcelona, where there is no clear playmaker, but almost every midfielder and striker can perform these functions. As a result, Gleb does not have the slightest chance of gaining a foothold in the Barça team.
But the Brazilian Kaka showed wisdom and a responsible attitude towards his talent, refusing to exchange Milan for the golden cage in Manchester City. While a player is in his prime, he should not move to a obviously weaker team for the sake of money. Moreover, in strong clubs, stars are paid well too.
Arshavin had clearly not wanted to stay at Zenit for too long for him to be expected to perform successfully for this team. But neither in Barcelona, where he was initially wooed by football rumors, nor in London's Tottenham or Arsenal, Andrei's playing prospects also look rosy. He is used to being a leader, but there is no chance for this in any of the teams that were interested in him. It will not be easy for a person with the status of a superstar of domestic football at the age of 28 to start in a championship where no one considers him such a star.
In any case, if Andrei does not finally decide on his future now, Russia risks losing one of its best players in full bloom, and not at all due to injury. Mental trauma in this case can be much worse than physical trauma.