Artyom Dzyuba at the beginning of November 2022 terminated the contract with the first and last foreign club of his career, Adana Demirspor. Since then, the Russian striker has been mired in uncertainty, as he no longer has any offers from Europe or Asia, where they were once willing to give him a huge salary, incomparable even with Zenith’s salary. At the age of 34, the best scorer in the history of the RPL was left with nothing, and judging by the experts and some sources, Artem has only one option: the Moscow Torpedo.
At first glance, their tandem may be optimal for both parties. Dzyuba will return to his hometown (RPL), and Torpedo will get a powerful striker who can help him maintain his place in the league. However, in reality, everything is much more complicated than it seems.
Why doesn’t Dziuba need it?
Dzyuba left Zenit in the status of a leader, whose authority and level of play could not be questioned, but the failure in Turkey really shook Artyom’s reputation. The most convenient option for him would be to move to the team that would guarantee him a convenient scheme and great aircraft carriers, but Torpedo is far from having players on the level of Malcolm, Claudinho and others who helped Dziuba break records at Zenith.
There are 13 games left for the end of the season, in the winter transfer window Torpedo does not make any obvious attempt to strengthen the team, the Club occupies the last position in the standings and is 11 points behind the 12th saving line. In summary, there are all the requirements for Torpedo to be relegated to the First Division. Dzyuba is a great player by RPL standards, but even if Andrey Talalaev builds a game around a newcomer, black and white is unlikely to be able to scale.
Dziuba’s return to the RPL is an uninteresting and controversial decision that can turn into a fiasco. You can’t take risks.
Why isn’t it necessary for Torpedo?
As counterarguments to the previous point, one could recall Dziuba’s successful loan to Tula Arsenal and Rostov, but one should not forget that Artem is already 34 years old and he no longer needs to fight for his career as he did before.
Torpedo is one of the poorest (if not the poorest) RPL clubs, but the club wants to sign a person who previously received the most in the league. It is clear that Dziuba has no right to ask for the salary of the former Gazprom, but he is clearly not ready to play for pennies either. It would make much more sense for Torpedo to spend this money on other needs, because going all-in and betting on a 34-year-old who hasn’t even been training for several months seems unreasonable.
‘Torpedo’s’ desire to stay in the RPL is understandable and natural, but it is more like a death rattle. If relegation is imminent, it would be better for club bosses to admit it rather than bury it further. I’m sure there are much more logical and correct solutions.
