End of farm club memes? Zenit’s main transfer partner is not Sochi!
Nikita Paglazov July 29, 2023, 1:00 PM Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
For 10 years, residents of St. Petersburg have made 34 deals with Rostov, taking into account youth teams!
Rostov and Zenit will play the central game of the 2nd round of the Russian Premier League. At the same time, the transfer campaign continues. One of the last transitions for Zenit is the exchange of goalkeepers with Sochi. Denis Adamov went to St. Petersburg, and Nikita Goylo went in the opposite direction. In the fan community, a stereotype has formed about Sochi as a “farm club” of Zenit. You will be surprised, but in the last 10 years, most often the St. Petersburg team made deals with another club. This is Rostov.
Let’s make a reservation right away that the Sochi club is only five years old. The club of the same name in the city was created only in 2018 on the basis of the St. Petersburg Dynamo. But the blue-white-blues have been actively cooperating with Rostov for the past decade.
Summing up the results of Malcolm’s stay in Russia:
We understand Malcolm’s time at Zenit: from critic to main star of the RPL
“Rostov”: 19 deals (8 arrived, 11 left).
It is with Rostov that Zenit has the closest transfer ties. In the summer of 2017, five Rostovites arrived in St. Petersburg at once. The peak of transfers from Zenit to Rostov is 2019 (four players per year). For 10 years, the Petersburgers received only €1.5 million from the Rostov-on-Don team (hereinafter – Transfermarkt data), but €14.45 million proceeded in the opposite direction. The most expensive transfer between the teams is Miha Mevlya. Zenit acquired the Slovenian defender in August 2017 for 8 million euros.
Micha Mevlya
Photo: Artyom Gusev, “Championship”
Transfers from Zenit to Rostov:
football playerYearcompensation amountAlexander Bukharov2014free agentPavel Mogilevets2015loanPavel Mogilevets2017€700k Artur Yusupov2017loanArthur Yusupov2018free agentIvan Novoseltsev2019loanYevgeny Chernov2019free agentMikha Mevlya2019loanEgor Baburin2019€500kDenis Ter ent ev202 €0 300kDanila Prokhin2021free agent
Transfers from Rostov to Zenit:
football playerYearcompensation amountIvan Novoseltsev2016€1mChristian Noboa2017free agentDenis Terentiev2017€2mDmitry Poloz2017free agentAlexander Erokhin2017free agentMikha Mevlya2017€8mDmitry Chistyakov2020loanDmitry Chistyakov2021€3.25m
The list does not include 14 more inter-club transactions on transfers between academies, youth clubs, Zenit-2 and Rostov-2 (11 from Zenit to Rostov, three in the opposite direction).
Alexander Erokhin
Photo: Dmitry Golubovich, Championship
And who else is in the top five of the main partners of “Zenith”?
“Sochi”: 17 transactions (4 – arrived, 13 – left). The most expensive signing is that of Mateo Cassierra, (to Zenit, 2022, 4.5 million euros).
“Ruby”: 15 transactions (7 – arrived, 8 – left). The most expensive signing is that of Salomón Rondón (to Zenit, 2014, 18 million euros).
Corinthians: 7 transactions (6 – arrivals, 1 – left). The most expensive transfer is that of Pedro (to Zenit, he will move in 2024, 9 million euros).
Wings of the Soviets, Dynamo, Anji: 6 transactions (Wings and Dynamo – 4 – arrived, 2 – left; Anji – 2 – arrived, 4 – left). The most expensive signing is Wings of the Soviets – Yoan Mollo (to Zenit, 2017, 3 million euros). Dynamo – Alexander Kokorin (to Zenit, 2016, 2 million euros). Anji – Igor Denisov (to Anji, 2013, 15 million euros)
Igor Denisov
Photo: Denis Tyrin, Championship
“Sochi” is catching up with “Rostov” in the list of the main partners of “Zenith”. The main surprise: being on the Corinthians list. It is about the reorientation of “Zenith” for the Brazilian market. The first transfer from Corinthians took place in the summer of 2022, and now the clubs are actively trading with each other. A striking example is the exchange of Zenit striker Yuri Alberto for defender Robert Renan Eduardo Queiroz, the extension of Gustavo Mantua’s lease and Pedro’s purchase right in priority (it will arrive in 2024). The goalkeeper Iván Quaresma also went to Brazil.
Are we giving the status of the Zenit agricultural club to the Rostovites?
What other players will Semaka bring from Brazil?
Will “Zenith” return to exchange players with “Corinthians”? What stars have not yet been taken out of there?
