CSKA is very modest in the transfer market this summer. Yes, the club signed defender Krugovoy (he seems to be the best signing of the summer), midfielder Zhemaletdinov and forward Koit (he still can’t prove his worth) as free agents. But CSKA made only one transfer for money: young forward Shumansky from Aris joined the team for 1.5 million euros, if we don’t take into account the bonuses that the club paid to free agents.
At the same time, there are no quantitative problems with the composition of CSKA. Not even all the players of the team are included in the match line-ups: there is not enough space. Although last season the club frequently announced a minimum number of players for the match. The main issues are to qualitatively strengthen the team. CSKA does not have enough players who would make a difference. Why are there no such transfers? And will there be?
What about the money?
CSKA’s budget is bad. “The club is in survival mode” – that’s how our sources more or less call the current way of life of the club. According to our information, at the moment the Club does not have money for at least one transfer. For now, CSKA’s transfer campaign has been forced to end. The main problem is that the Club does not have an anchor shareholder who would provide money even for the transfer campaign.
You might be wondering, what about VEB? According to our sources, VEB gives the club 600-700 million rubles a year for the name of the stadium. There are no additional investments from VEB. Just as there are no large infusions from other sponsors. Compared to the funding provided by the main sponsors of other major RPL clubs, CSKA’s money is nothing. The club has a budget deficit at the moment.
Chairman of the Board of Directors of CSKA Maxim Oreshkin on the podium
Photo: Dmitry Golubovich, “Championship”
According to the league, CSKA negotiated with potential sponsors and investors this summer, which could have greatly helped in conducting a high-quality transfer campaign, but all options failed. Now CSKA’s budget depends entirely on sales, and this summer there were almost none. In the current situation, the club’s main task is the timely payment of salaries to players. At the same time, of course, CSKA understands that the club cannot fail in terms of results, so the management decided to replace Fedotov with Nikolic in the summer.
Nikolic has already changed Ivan Oblyakov:
Oblyakov has changed and is once again dragging CSKA along. He now has a new and unique role.
Who could come to CSKA if the club had money? And who will leave?
Throughout the transfer window, CSKA’s selection worked in the best way: we need to come to an agreement, and suddenly there will be money. According to our information, this is how the Moscow club agreed with the French Reims on the transfer of attacking midfielder Camori Doumbia. CSKA’s negotiators reached a full agreement on the transfer with the club for 6 million euros, and then reached an agreement with the player himself. At the same time, Reims did not demand all the money at once – there was an agreement that the transfer would take place if CSKA could transfer at least part of the money before the end of the transfer window. The French waited until the last moment for the Russian club, but CSKA had no money. And Doumbia moved to Brest.
Kamory Doumbia in Brest
Photo: Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images
According to our sources, a similar situation occurred with Rostov midfielder Daniil Glebov, who was ready to go to Nikolic. But again it all came down to lack of money.
There were also negotiations with Leicester midfielder Ndidi. The Nigerian’s contract had expired and the club immediately contacted him. Ndidi was ready to go to Moscow, but he asked for such allowances that the Moscow club understood that they could not handle him. As a result, Ndidi re-signed with Leicester.
Roman Babaev
General Manager of CSKA
“Work on the transfer market will continue until the window closes, but I can’t say anything specific yet. We are looking for players for several positions, but there are objective difficulties: the club’s capabilities, issues with sanctions, the unwillingness of many players, unfortunately, to play in Russia for all the well-known reasons. There is no certainty that CSKA will have transfers until the end of the window. I don’t want to reassure anyone because, I repeat, there are objective reasons.”
The club is still working on options to sign a striker (free agent or on loan) in the transfer window. According to our information, the striker position is the priority for Marko Nikolic in terms of reinforcement. And right now negotiations are underway with a high-status player from the top championship. Only now will everything return to the financial issue.
Wilfred Ndidi in Leicester
Photo: Michael Regan/Getty Images
As for transfers, CSKA is still determined to sell Mendes and Pomazun, who do not fit the request. But during the entire transfer window I did not receive a single offer to transfer these two players. Although today we are talking only about rent. Orenburg and Khimki want to rent the same Mendes, as reported by Ivan Karpov. According to our information, Nikolic does not count on the Chilean now, so the club is ready to loan Mendes provided his salary is fully covered. According to our sources, the option with Khimki is the most likely, now the club is the favorite in the fight for the player.
And Nikolic?
Although there are many financial problems, the atmosphere in the team is good. The players fully accepted Nikolic’s ideas. This is also due to the fact that the coaching staff decided not to break the three-defender formation due to the selection of players. At the same time, there is a high probability that during the winter training camp Nikolic (subject to the availability of transfers, of course) will rebuild CSKA to his preferred four-defender formation. Well, Nikolic himself has the first say on the issue of selection. As for financial difficulties, it is easier for the coach to accept them, because when the contract was signed no one hid the club’s position from him.
The material used quotes from Sport24 colleagues.
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