Translated material
Ten days until the go-ahead
Our clubs will have a chance to announce newcomers before the start of the second round
The International Football Federation did not approve of the desire of the Russian Football Premier League (RFPL) to increase the summer pre-entry campaign by opening it a month earlier from August 3. However, yesterday the heads of Russian clubs nevertheless discussed this issue and decided to petition the RFU to shift the start of the transfer period to July 12. Preparations for the opening of the application period are in full swing, and many clubs have extensive plans for the summer campaign."Zenith". The first-round champions intend to strengthen their squad ahead of the start of the UEFA Cup. The St. Petersburg team is looking for a central and full-back and possibly a striker. Moreover, Zenit is again not limited in funds, but now intends to rely exclusively on the European market. In turn, veteran Alexander Spivak, whose services Dick Advocaat does not need, and Korean Lee Ho, who could not withstand the intense competition among defensive midfielders, are leaving St. Petersburg. A return to Turkey on loan for the Tekke striker is possible. But Zenit, it seems, is not going to sell Alexander Anyukov, whose transfer to Spartak or Lokomotiv due to a conflict with the head coach was numerous.
"Spartacus". Stanislav Cherchesov promised to tell about his transfer plans no earlier than in a week. However, while still a sports director, Cherchesov did not deny that Spartak needed two defenders and a forward. The “red-whites” had Croatian national team defender Vedran Corluka in mind. But Dinamo Zagreb refused the offer to sell the young footballer. There, in Zagreb, Cherchesov looked at a Brazilian with a Croatian passport, Eduardo Da Silva. However, they preferred to sell him to Arsenal in London for 11 million euros, even though Spartak offered twice as much.
Now the Red and Whites may focus on negotiations with Lille over the transfer of Peter Odemwingie. The Nigerian national team striker, who received his football education in Naberezhnye Chelny and at the CSKA school, has a Russian passport and speaks fluent Russian. However, the transfer price of the 25-year-old Lille striker is greatly inflated.
The list of players that Spartak is going to part with is also extensive. Argentinean Rodriguez, who recently won the Copa Libertadores, has been loaned out again, this time to the Spanish Espanyol. Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Kowalewski is not going to remain in the team. Ukrainian Maxim Kalinichenko also wants to clarify his position in the team, but the demand for him is no longer the same as a year ago after the World Cup. Perhaps Quincy, whom ex-Spartak coach Vladimir Fedotov considered his main transfer success, will go back to England. The club is unhappy with Mozart, but Italian clubs are ready to take the Brazilian back for decent money if he gets EU citizenship.
"Dynamo". Andrei Kobelev, who was forced to make do with 14 players for half of the championship, is most looking forward to the opening of the additional application window. Dynamo, being currently the most active club in the transfer market, has already managed to conclude several contracts. Bulgarian forward Genkov (Lokomotiv, Sofia), defensive midfielder Kushtodiu (Sporting, Lisbon), defensive player Dimidko (SKA-Energia, Khabarovsk) and forward Kurochkin (Mordovia, Saransk) joined Kobelev’s team. Dynamo is unlikely to stop there. The team needs at least two more defenders and one forward.
There is simply no one to sell to the Dynamo management. The club can only permanently part with players playing on loan. For example, Derleya agreed to take Sporting. It is possible that Bulykin will finally change his registration.
"Wings of the Soviets". The club, according to its president Alexander Baranovsky, has not yet paid off its debts, the amount of which amounts to $20 million. So there is no need to expect major acquisitions. But there may be losses. For example, striker Alexei Medvedev has several proposals. In addition, Andrei Gusin went to Saturn to work with Gadzhiev as a player coach.
CSKA. The army team continues to actively search for attack players overseas. Concrete results of the selection work may appear after the end of the America's Cup, which is taking place in Venezuela, and the World Youth Championship, which started in Canada.
Today, the most realistic option seems to be the purchase of striker Evgeniy Savin from Amkar, whom Guus Hiddink has already recruited to the national team. In the meantime, CSKA has formalized its relationship with Torpedo graduate Pavel Mamaev and, in addition to attacking players, is looking at a defender.
"Moscow". When the “townspeople” were among the leaders of the championship, there was talk that sponsors were ready to allocate a large sum to purchase a player from Latin America. Now “Moscow” is behaving calmly in the transfer market, but perhaps they will still make some high-profile deal. For example, he will take Dmitry Loskov from Lokomotiv. In addition, Leonid Slutsky needs a central or full-back. “Moscow” plans to part ways with the Pole Gorawski, who quarreled with the head coach. However, earlier Slutsky also said that he does not see Mariusz Jop in the team, and he has recently firmly taken his place in the starting lineup.
"Ruby". After the tragedy that happened with Lenar Gilmullin, Rubin is forced to look for a left back. In selection work, the Kazan club relies on Muslim players. The Turkish market is being actively developed. Negotiations are underway with Kayserispor on the transfer of midfielder Mehmet Topuz and striker Gokhan Unalu. The Turkish press reported about Rubin's interest in Trabzonspor captain Hussein Chimshir.
Mass sales are not expected in Kazan. For now, only Dzhambulad Bazaev is up for transfer.
"Locomotive". After a major victory in the 15th round on the birthday of Russian Railways President Vladimir Yakunin, Anatoly Byshovets may be given carte blanche in transfer matters. The list of possible acquisitions from the Loko coach is quite extensive. Two points from it have already been implemented: midfielder of the Ghana national team Hamin Draman was bought from the Turkish Genclerbirligi, and Renat Yanbaev was bought from Kuban. Byshovets still needs one striker and a couple of defenders.
Places will certainly be freed up for possible newcomers. Scottish forward Harry O'Connor has already been sold to Birmingham, and Marat Izmailov has been loaned to Sporting Lisbon. It is possible that Loko will part with a number of veterans who do not make the roster.
"Tom". The Siberian club has not yet fully figured out financing, but is looking at inexpensive players from Eastern Europe. The captain of Levski Sofia, Elin Topuzakov, has been taken into account, and there is interest in the Croatian Osijek striker Stjepan Jukic. Khimki midfielder Alexey Zhitnikov is on trial in Tomsk.
"Amkar". Rashid Rakhimov is now more concerned about preserving the team, which performed well in the first half of the championship. In addition to striker Savin, almost all leading clubs are showing interest in Hungarian defender Gaal. And Rashid Rakhimov himself answers questions about his possible departure to the Spartak coaching staff very vaguely.
"Khimki". An extensive winter purchasing campaign did not leave the Moscow Region club with ample funds for summer strengthening. But at the same time, the priorities on the market remained the same - inexpensive foreign players from former socialist countries.
"Saturn". The new government at Saturn has not yet shown much activity. Only Andrei Gusin, who had not yet healed his injury, joined the team. But, apparently, there will be acquisitions. The money will appear after the sale of Montenegrin Simon Vukcevic to Sporting. This transfer is estimated at 4 million euros.
"Kuban". Krasnodar residents have so far only reported losses. In addition to Yanbaev, Robert Zebelyan, who signed a contract with Khimki, is leaving the club. Kuban is also looking for buyers for striker Alexander Danishevsky and defender Georgy Dzhioev.
"Beam-Energy". Sergei Pavlov continues to search for a striker to strengthen the attack. One of the candidates is Alexey Medvedev. It is possible that Dzhambulat Bazaev and Ural midfielder Artem Fidler will appear in Vladivostok.
"Spartak-Nalchik". The club from Kabardino-Balkaria has not yet paid for winter purchases and risks being subject to fines and a transfer ban. In the meantime, Spartak-Nalchik is freeing itself from ballast. Striker Popov was sent back to Kuban, and plans are made to part ways with several other players.
"Rostov". The new owners of the club - the Estar group of companies - are just getting into the swing of things. It hasn’t even been decided yet which path to choose - to focus on saving a place in the Premier League or to deliberately leave the elite and return in a year. The budget of the transfer campaign also depends on this. In the meantime, Rostov is focusing on paying off its debts.