There is very little time left before the start of the new season in the RPL. On July 13, Zenit and Krasnodar will face each other in the match for the Russian Super Cup, and a week later we will have the matches of the 1st round. In the meantime, we are studying what moves the clubs have made in the transfer market.
What was interesting about the RPL last week:
Zenit is taking the market by storm and newcomers to the RPL will be unrecognizable. There are so many events in our championship!
Sergei Volkov: Krasnodar → Zenit (5 million euros)
Sergei Volkov signs contract with Zenit
Photo: fc-zenit.ru
A winger with little experience in the Russian national team (four matches) moved from the second team of the RPL to the champion team. Zenit signed a contract with the player according to the “4+1” scheme. If you believe Volkov, everything was decided quite quickly. Last season, the Krasnodar graduate played 29 matches in all tournaments and gave three assists. After the arrival of Murad Musaev, Volkov played only four matches in the championship (not one full match). Now Sergey will try to gain a foothold in the Russian champion.
A year ago, Volkov had other priorities:
Zenit still took the defender from Krasnodar. And a year ago Volkov did not want to go to St. Petersburg.
Yuri Gorshkov: Krylia Sovetov → Zenit (1.26 million euros)
Yuri Gorshkov will play for Zenit with number four
Photo: fc-zenit.ru
Gorshkov joined Zenit on the same day as Volkov. Only the blue-white-blue costs much less. Yuri moved to Krylya Sovetov in the summer of 2020 and has since played 147 matches (nine goals, 19 assists). Gorshkov himself admitted that since childhood he dreamed of playing for a St. Petersburg club.
“Zenit is my childhood dream. I always had one goal in mind: to get here. The decision to move to Zenit was made easily and quickly. I wanted to take on a new challenge in my career and coming to Zenit was a new step. I had already considered the option of leaving Samara, and Zenit was my priority and my dream,” Gorshkov said after the move.
Danila Kozlov: Baltika → Krasnodar (1.25 million euros)
Danila Kozlov
Photo: fckrasnodar.ru
The Zenit Academy graduate will continue his career in Krasnodar. The 19-year-old footballer proved his worth in the second half of last season – he played on loan at Baltika. In 15 matches for the Kaliningrad club, Kozlov scored 8 (3+5) points using the goal+pass system. Krasnodar drew attention to the talented footballer’s game and the parties signed a contract until the summer of 2028. According to Kozlov’s agent, the Bulls expressed interest in the player in mid-May. Before signing the contract, Krasnodar took a number of correct and concrete steps, and Danila chose the Southern Club. According to some reports, Kozlov refused to return to Zenit.
Related materials
The “new Arshavin” was intercepted by Zenit. Wow!
Hidayet Hankic: Botev → Rostov (€100 thousand)
Rostov bought another goalkeeper
Photo: fc-rostov.ru
Rostov radically changed the goalkeeping lineup. Sergei Pesyakov and Nikita Medvedev left the Don Club as free agents. The southerners spent 330 thousand euros on the purchase of two new goalkeepers. The largest part of this amount (230 thousand euros) was spent on the purchase of the goalkeeper of the Tajikistan national team, Rustam Yatimov. The second new goalkeeper was Bosnian Hankic, who found himself in Botev. He has been playing for the Bulgarian club since 2021 and last season he played 25 matches. Hankić missed 21 goals and scored 12 goals. Previously, the 30-year-old goalkeeper also played in Austria, the Czech Republic and Romania.
Denis Glushakov: Urartu → Khimki (free agent)
Denis Glushakov returned to Khimki
Photo: fckhimki.com
The veteran will try his luck in the RPL again. Glushakov already played for Khimki from 2020 to 2022 (67 matches, 15 goals). After leaving the Moscow region club, he ended up in Paris NN, and then in Spartak Kostroma and Urartu. In Armenia, Glushakov played 12 matches and scored one assist. He missed the end of the season due to a calf injury.
“There were no other options to continue my career. If I am competitive and in good shape, of course I will benefit the team on the field. And if something doesn’t work out, I will in any case be with the team, sharing my experience with the youngsters,” said 37-year-old Glushakov after returning to Khimki.
Alexander Zhirov: Baltika → Akhmat (free agent)
Alexander Zhirov exchanged Baltika for Akhmat
Photo: fc-akhmat.ru
The defender returned to Russia in the summer of 2023. Before that, he played for five years in Germany at the Sandhausen club. Zhirov played only one season in Baltika, and the team left the elite division of Russian football. The 33-year-old footballer quickly found a new club – Akhmat signed the player to a contract under the “1+1” scheme. In the first half of last season, Zhirov sat on the bench more often than on the field. And after the winter break, he established himself as the main player of Baltika. In the spring part of the championship, Alexander regularly appeared in the starting lineup.
Adiev stopped two steps away from the Euro Cup and then surprisingly burst into the RPL:
Exclusive
“Magomed, it’s not your fault, but…” How Adiev transformed Kazakhstan into Grozny and saved Akhmat
Danila Prokhin: Rostov → Orenburg (loan)
Danila Prokhin was again in Orenburg
Photo: fcorenburg.ru
The second half of last season, Prokhin played in Orenburg: the club rented him to Rostov. 23-year-old Danila played 12 matches, however, as a rule, he entered the field from the bench. Apparently, Orenburg was satisfied with the defender’s actions, since the club rented the player again. This time, until the end of the 2024/2025 season. This is the third time Rostov has conceded to Prokhin. In the summer of 2021, the Don Club sent the player to Sochi, and then Danila left twice for Orenburg.
Vladimir Ilyin: Akhmat → Fakel (free agent)
Vladimir Ilyin will continue his career in Fakel
Photo: fakelfc.ru
Fakel is Ilyin’s fourth club since 2017. Before that, he played for Ural, Akhmat (in two starts) and Krasnodar. Last season, the forward played for the Grozny club (28 matches, five goals, one assist). The 32-year-old left Akhmat as a free agent because his contract had expired. Now Vladimir will try to help Fakel, who at the end of last season remained in the RPL without unnecessary problems in the form of joints. By the way, earlier the forward Maxim Maximov left the Voronezh club, whose contract had expired.
Alexander Vasyutin: Zenit → Akron (free agent)
Alexander Vasyutin hopes to restart his career in Akron
Photo: fcakron.ru
Vasyutin never managed to establish himself in the main team of Zenit. He was on loan in Finland (Lahti) and Sweden (Djurgården), and also played in Norway (Sarpsborg bought him). In the 2023/2024 season, Vasyutin played only five matches (four in the Russian Cup). Anyway, Alexander was not the main goalkeeper and with the arrival of Evgeniy Latyshonok the situation worsened significantly. Changing the situation in this situation is a completely logical step. Now Vasyutin will try to restart his career as part of RPL newcomer Akron. “I want to declare myself in the Premier League, show my level. I feel that I have not shown everything yet, I will try to bring maximum benefit to the team and show a good game,” Vasyutin said.
Will Zenit really buy Sobolev now?
“Sobolev is very keen to join Zenit.” All about the Spartak striker’s possible transfer
Aleksandar Jukic: Sochi → Rubin (free agent)
Aleksandar Yukic
Photo: FC Rubin
Another player who left Sochi, which was relegated from the RPL. The Austrian joined the Black Sea club in early 2024; his transfer from Austria cost 50 thousand euros. Since then he has played 12 matches in the RPL and scored 2 (1+1) points using the goal+pass system. Now Yukic will continue his career in Kazan: he signed a contract with Rubin for four years. And he did it as a free agent, so the RPL club did not pay a penny for his transfer. This is Rubin’s third signing in the summer transfer market. Previously, the Kazan club signed contracts with two goalkeepers: Artur Nigmatullin and Evgeniy Staver.
Other transfers
Fakel has agreed to transfer defender Max Dziov. The 22-year-old Vladikavkaz player was bought from Dynamo Brest for 80 thousand euros. Akron strengthened the team with winger Vyacheslav Bardybakhin; he was bought from Yenisei for 30 thousand euros. Defender Lev Skvortsov left Khimki and moved to Shinnik. Conditions: rental until the end of the season. Sid Ahmed Aissaoui left CSKA and moved to Sheriff on loan with an option to buy. The military team has the opportunity to return the footballer at the beginning of winter Maxim Kuzmin, who left Baltika, which was relegated to the First League. He will continue his career at Akron. CSKA’s third goalkeeper Vladimir Shaikhutdinov will spend the 2024/2025 season on loan at Volga Ulyanovsk. Earlier, the goalkeeper signed a new contract with the army until the summer of 2028 with the option to extend it for another season. Two Zenit players, goalkeeper Bogdan Moskvichev and midfielder Yaroslav Mikhailov, moved to Orenburg on loan until the end of the season. Akron acquired defensive midfielder Stefan Loncar from Debrecen. The transfer fee was 75 thousand euros.
