Mutual interest

Dynamo's insatiable appetites coincided with the sale of Wings of the Soviets

The current period of additional applications in the Russian Premier League, opening on July 1, promises to be louder and more memorable than ever. Already in the next 14th round, which will take place on Saturday and Sunday, the composition of elite domestic teams may undergo significant changes. At the moment, of all the European championships, only Russia is willing to pay exorbitant amounts of money for fairly average football players.

The main player in the transfer market remains Dynamo Moscow. Thanks to Alexey Fedorychev’s fortune, earned from fertilizers, the “blue and white” acquired Porto midfielder Nuno Ricardo Oliveira Ribeiro, better known as simply Maniche, for 16 million euros back in mid-May. Now it is this 27-year-old Portuguese, known in his homeland for his obstinate and rebellious disposition, who is the most expensive football player in the Russian championship, having seized the championship in this category from Spartak Argentinean Fernando Cavenaghi. But it is quite possible that before August 31 - the end date of the additional application period - Russia will conquer a new peak. CSKA, according to the head of the army club Evgeny Giner, does not give up hopes of acquiring the Spanish Real Sociedad forward Nikhat Kahveci. The Turkish national team striker has already undergone a medical examination at CSKA, but in San Sebastian they are not rushing things. Soon there will be elections for a new president of the club, and perhaps Nikhat will be more necessary for him than the sum of 20 million euros.

In general, legionnaires have been willingly coming to our country lately, because the personal contracts they offer here are by no means modest. Few foreigners can resist a salary of, say, a million euros per year. But there are others. For example, Israeli midfielder Yossi Benayoun. FC Moscow has already agreed with the Spanish Racing from Santander on the amount of Benayoun's transfer - 4.5 million euros, but Yossi himself flatly refused to go to Russia. The Israeli has long dreamed of a big club in Europe, for which he even applied for Spanish citizenship.

It's not just foreigners who are attracted to wealthy domestic clubs. With a shortage of Russian football players, every home-grown player appearing on the transfer market is already a sensation. Moreover, the amounts involved in transfers within Russia are hidden by the parties to the transactions very carefully. Now we are talking not about one football player, but about the whole team! Sale! A big sale has been announced at Krylya Sovetov. The Samara club, which at the end of last season won the right to represent Russia in the UEFA Cup, has not found a way out of the difficult financial situation.

The search by the president of “Wings” German Tkachenko for contact with the authorities and for new raw material sponsors who would be willing to shoulder a heavy burden was never crowned with success. Now the leaders are leaving the banks of the Volga in a hurry. The first, again to Dynamo, was 24-year-old Denis Kolodin. The Blue and White won the dispute over the defender of the Russian national team against Lokomotiv and Saturn. Following Kolodin, who signed a five-year agreement, other Samarans are ready to become Dynamo players - Nigerian Patrick Ovie and Serbian Ognjen Koroman. The latter knows Dynamo well. He already played for this club in 2002-2003, was a fan favorite, but then was bought out for a million. Apparently, in two years, Koroman has grown in price, if only because he has the required number of matches for the national team, which means he does not fall under the foreign player limit.

Surprisingly, Krylia Sovetov captain Andrei Karyaka, who went to Benfica for 2 million euros, was not in demand in Russia. However, given the close ties of the chairman of the board of directors of Dynamo Fedorychev with Portugal, Karyaka’s return to Russia cannot be completely ruled out.

It is characteristic that not only football players will join Russian clubs during the current period of additional applications. Following the first wave of foreign coaches comes the second. And if the rich “Dynamo” is only thinking about whether to entrust the former famous Bulgarian midfielder Krasimir Balakov to take the helm or look for other candidates, then in “Alania” the choice has already been made. The Vladikavkaz club will be headed by the eminent Israeli specialist Itzhak Shum. The coach who led Maccabi Haifa and Panathinaikos to victory in the national championships was not afraid to come to North Ossetia, becoming the second, after the Frenchman Roland Courbis, the foreign coach of Alania. Shum signed a contract until the end of 2005 with a further right to extend it for another two years.

Denis VDOVIN