César Montes moved to Lokomotiv Moscow in the final days of the transfer market from Spanish side Almería. The red and greens paid a lot of money these days for the 27-year-old defender: six million euros. At the same time, César received offers from other countries, but decided to move to Russia.
Montes immediately became a player in Lokomotiv’s starting eleven: he has already played three 90-minute matches in the Premier League, he also participated twice in National Cup matches and even scored against Khimki (5:1). In an interview with RG, the agent of Mexican Sergio Vizuete shared the details of his client’s transfer to the railway camp.
Sergio, César has been at Lokomotiv for just over a month. How do you adapt to the new conditions?
Sergio Vizuete: César is happy, his family has moved with him, his place in the locker room. Montes lived in Mexico, where there aren’t many supermarkets, stores and everything else. In this sense, at first it was a little unusual for him in Moscow, but now Caesar has gradually gotten used to the new environment and likes everything very much.
Montes could have ended up in Russia sooner: two years ago he was about to move to Dynamo. Do you regret that transfer failed?
Sergio Vizuete: Yes, there were negotiations between Dinamo and Monterrey (Mexican club where Montes played from 2015 to 2022). The parties were never able to reach an agreement, although César really wanted to move to the Moscow team. Then César performed well at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, we received an offer from the Spanish Espanyol and we moved there. But before the world championship, Montes was close to moving to Dynamo, that’s true.
Do you know that Montes is the second Mexican in the history of the Russian championship? The first is Dynamo player Luis Chávez.
Sergio Vizuete: I know, although César could have been the first if he had ended up at Dinamo then. But anyway we are happy with everything. I hope that Montes proves himself at Lokomotiv and that as many Mexicans as possible come to play in the Premier League.
By the way, are Montes and Chávez friends?
Sergio Vizuete: Of course, they are known for their performances in the national team. César asked Luis what life was like in Moscow and asked him about some everyday things. Chávez only said good things about football and everything else.
What other options did César have besides Lokomotiv? And why did you choose the Moscow Club?
Sergio Vizuete: We had options with teams from the Spanish championship, and with those who are among the leaders. However, they wanted to take over the loan of César, which did not suit Almería, which paid a lot of money to Espanyol for Montes (14 million euros) and did not want to leave him on loan. I wouldn’t like to give the names of the clubs that wanted to sign César, but there were many offers. As for Lokomotiv, Montes wanted to try his luck in Russia, he likes this championship, the club is one of the most popular and titled in his country. Furthermore, we were attracted by the fact that Lokomotiv showed great interest in us. Sergei did a very professional job (Sergei Litvinov, head of the Lokomotiv selection department – RG note). He was constantly in touch with us, talked about the advantages of the equipment, helped and continues to help on many issues. In the end, Lokomotiv managed to reach an agreement with Almería on the terms of the transfer and César ended up in Russia.
How realistic was the option with Manchester United a year ago? Who was the initiator of César’s possible transfer to this team?
Sergio Vizuete: Before Montes arrived at Espanyol, Manchester United arrived. The English were going to sell one of their center backs and buy César. However, that player never left United and, as a result, Manchester United wanted to loan Montez, which did not suit us.
Is it true that Lionel Messi called César and convinced him to move to the American Inter Miami?
Sergio Vizuete: No, Messi did not call César, although there was interest from Inter Miami. Messi is not the club’s sports director and does not call players to negotiate. Of course, if Lionel had called Montesa, he would have answered the phone (laughs). Who wouldn’t respond? Anyone would want this. But that didn’t happen, no.
Doesn’t the lack of European Cups harm César’s ambitions?
Sergio Vizuete: We hope that Russian clubs return to European competitions soon. Previously, César played for teams that also did not play in European competitions: Espanyol, Almería. As I said, the Russian Championship is a strong league and Montes wants to succeed here, but we’ll see.
