We turned our attention once again to the Brazilian market.
“City residents” don’t want to repeat last year’s mistakes
“Krasnodar” participates in the championship race for the second season in a row. In the previous season, his driving force was Vladimir Ivich, who instilled pragmatism and character in the “bulls”. Now it’s all about Murad Musaev – the manager has retained the characteristics brought by the Serbian and combined them with the philosophy of Krasnodar. In the 23/24 season, among others, there were not enough transfers. The ‘Bulls’ wreaked havoc when they were just one mechanism – but the championship direction was a leap over the head. The reinforcement was obvious – but they brought in a “pig in a bag” Victor Sa and Kevin Castagno, who still hasn’t become the titular leader.
This year the situation is different. The southerners are more focused on transfers. The shortlist includes Bahia’s Ademir, Newell’s Old Boys’ Angelo Martino and River Plate frontman Pablo Solari. The latter is a priority objective, for which they are ready to include Castaño in the agreement. He is a technical winger with a passing culture and a well-placed shot. True, it will be extremely difficult to finalize the deal, because Spartak has also started negotiations with the Argentines.
And yet, Krasnodar now has experience in the championship race and continues to look for quality foreign players – and will therefore approach the spring game with better preparation.
Petersburgers found something to answer
Apparently, they are mainly looking for players on the flanks of attack and defense. On the right in defense there is already Karavaev, Volkov should have taken on the role of substitute. True, the latter was absent for a long time with a serious injury, and Vyacheslav is also likely to be injured. Apparently Mediathe bleus-blancs-bleus turned to Flamengo footballer Wesley Vinicius for this position. According to the latest data, the possible amount of compensation that residents of St. Petersburg are ready to pay ranges from 15 to 26 million euros. The Brazilian club’s demands amount to at least 20 million. In addition, the defender, due to lack of European competition, wants to obtain a better contract.
In the search for a right winger, Fluminense’s John Arias was reportedly the initial choice. It was reported that Zenit offered 10 million euros in compensation and was ready to include Claudinho’s loan in the deal, but John himself refused to move to Russia. For the Colombian, the European Cups are considered the determining factor: he wants to play Champions League.
I had to move on to another option. The St. Petersburg team contacted Botafogo, where they were interested in Luis Enrique. Initially, it was said that the “blue-white-blue” were ready to pay no more than 25 million euros, but now it is announced that the amount of compensation will be 35 million and the negotiations are in the final stages . Apparently, it is Enrique who will end up joining the Zenit team.
The main question is not about transfers to the entrance
It’s not just about strengthening. Zenit strengthened the Russian bloc during the summer; before that, he had acquired young and already established foreign players. But the hegemony of the club, on the contrary, has weakened. It is also necessary to make the composition more balanced – and for this you will have to let someone go. The Bleus-Blancs-Bleus prefer to keep those who have produced results before – a sort of safety net. Additionally, they periodically drive players away from direct competitors.
All this led to the fact that the team stagnated Alexander Sobolev and Ilzat Akhmetov. They made a mistake with the signing of Arthur, Pedro is progressing slowly and doesn’t always show his level, Claudinho is no longer as effective. With the latter as with Wendel, we find ourselves faced with a particular dilemma. Recently, they have been considered players in the Zenit system, they have started regularly and stood out from the rest. Claudinho has been stagnating regularly lately. Wendel felt invigorated in the company of Gluchenkov – but he also sounded the alarm.
It seems like it’s time to let them go – now you can earn at least something from these players. But for Semak, it’s a risk. In case of defeat in the race for the championship, the first question that will arise is: “Why then did they let go of those who had given results earlier?” Here you still need to determine what causes more harm: selling them or keeping them on the team.
The current championship race is even tougher than last year
“Krasnodar”, like a year earlier, is the leader of the first part of the championship, in the top 3 are “Zenit” and the Moscow team. A year ago it was Dynamo, now it’s Spartak. The changes are minimal, but in fact the race for the championship has even intensified. The “bulls” now have experience in such battles, they understand how to act. And if we manage to bring in a high-level foreign player, it will be an additional plus compared to last season.
Regarding Zenit, fears were confirmed according to the specific players. Glushenkov, of course, allows the team to play intense and fast football – but without him, the “blue-white-blues” return to what they were last spring.
And the reshuffle of the capital’s clubs has been beneficial. “Dynamo” caused a sensation again in last year’s race – and the “blue and white” rather took the advantage on emotions, on Tyukavin’s progress. Lichka’s team would have strengthened its position – it was enough to strengthen the defense. Only the goalkeeper has been recruited – the team is still unbalanced. Meanwhile, Spartak does not have such an overall imbalance between the lines. In addition, the coach does not favor super-offensive football, which would further complicate the situation. Sliskovic has so far shown that he is an excellent candidate for Spartak – and therefore, as a competitor, the “red and white” are more dangerous.
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