Finally! Zakharyan himself suffered the perfect signing after a year of torment
Andrey Pankov August 19, 2023, 21:50 Moscow time
Six months later, there could be no option with Real Sociedad.
Officially! Arsen Zakharyan did it. He finally went to Europe, to the top league, to the club that participates in the Champions League. Real Sociedad has led the player since winter. And now, a year later, Arsen ends his painful attempts to leave. Although even this transition was on the verge of failure. However, the player’s agents and Dinamo managed to settle all differences over the commission that the selling club is obliged to pay. This is the happy ending of one story and the beginning of another.
In the summer of 2022, Zakharyan was one step away from Chelsea. So much so that the player came to agree on a salary of 960 thousand pounds sterling (about 1.1 million euros). But then everything failed due to the stubbornness of the Dynamo management. Londoners were ready to transfer the required 15 million euros in any indirect way with the help of different banks in the world. Dynamo, for their part, insisted on a direct transfer from England to Russia, which the main bank of the Barclays nuclear submarine banned (and continues to ban) under sanctions.
What awaits Zakharyan at the new club? Here’s our breakdown:
Zakharyan will replace the legend of the Spanish team at Sociedad. Arsene was also very lucky with the coach
After the failure of the transfer to the Premier League, Zakharyan remained cheerful in public, he believed that it would still happen in the winter. In fact, Arsen was sad. And, as many people in the football market say, I got carried away with the parties. All this, together with Jokanovic’s defensive style, could not fail to affect the level of the game. Despite this, in the winter, a top club again sought Zakharyan. But they didn’t grow up together (not through Arsene and Dynamo’s fault).
Soon after, Galatasaray wanted the player. The Turks were very persistent, but Arsen refused to go. First, because of Armenian-Turkish relations. Secondly, he was simply not satisfied with the level of the Turkish championship. And how nice that Zakharyan later said no to Galatasaray!
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This summer, Zakharyan’s departure was initially not particularly believed. There was confidence that Spertsyan, who had reached the highest level last season, would definitely leave. But about Arsen, it seems, in Europe they forgot a little. The last season was too boring. But the reality turned out to be different. Spertsyana will not sign Ajax yet, and Arsene almost went to Lazio at the beginning, and finally went to Real Sociedad. And he goes there at the perfect time for himself. This is a top variant, which appeared just in time, because the coming winter might not be the case. After all, there’s no guarantee Zakharyan won’t go sour again on RPL, potentially scaring off potential buyers. It is one thing – a recession for one season, another – for one and a half seasons or even two. Moreover, psychologically, it would have been even more alarming for Arsene: the transfer failure at the last moment could have hit harder than the transfer cancellation to Chelsea.
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Arsen underwent a transfer to an ideal team for him. Real Sociedad will play the Champions League. The club itself is fully focused on revealing young talents and helping them grow in football. What else is important: San Sebastian is a city of wealthy Spanish retirees, there are almost no parties and temptations, which means that Zakharyan will be able to calmly focus on football.
And there is also a strong feeling that Valery Karpin participated in the transfer of Zakharyan. Real Sociedad coach Imanol Alguasil, when he was a player, played for the same club with Karpin. It is hard to believe that Alguasil did not call the coach of the Russian national team for a recommendation. If this is true, then Zakharyan is leaving for Spain with a very good resume.
Valery Karpin and Arsen Zakharyan in the Russian team
Photo: Mikhail Shapaev, RFU
Zakharyan leaves the RPL at the age of 20. Since his debut, nobody has given more assists, nobody has given more passes in attack. So in this league he has already shown everything to everyone. Now is the time to test on a new level. Go ahead, Arsenio.
