Egor Prutsev is one of the Russian footballers who plays in Europe. In the summer of 2022, the midfielder took a risk and went to Serbia. Red Star bought Prutsev from Sochi for 1 million euros. But Yegor’s career with the Serbian giants is not going as he expected. What happens to Prutsev now?
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Danil Prutsev’s younger brother followed in his footsteps and started playing football at the age of four under the guidance of his father, Igor Ilyich. As a child, he trained at the Sports School No. 5 and at the FC Krasnodar Academy. Since 2016, Yegor has become a player of the Krasnodar Territory Football Academy and in July 2019 he moved to the Sochi youth team. It was the Sochi residents who opened the path to great football for Yegor.
Prutsev made his debut in the RPL in September 2020, entering the match against Krasnodar (1:1) in the 78th minute. But this match remained the only one in the Russian championship. Egor most often played for the Sochi youth team (44 matches) and in 2021 the club sent him on loan to Tekstilshchik Ivanovo. A year later, to Neftekhimik. In general, Prutsev was no longer given any chance in the RPL.
Egor Prutsev in Sochi
Photo: pfcsochi.ru
Egor decided to change the situation. It turned out spectacular: Red Star entered Sochi and decided to take Prutsev. The media reported that Yegor had a conflict with representatives of the southerners, but the coach who then led the Sochi team, Vadim Garanin, rejected all rumors:
— I heard information that Yegor had some kind of conflict with someone from the club. This is not true. When we arrived in Sochi, the club already wanted the player to go in a slightly different direction. Since Red Star acquired the player they have, this is a great advantage for Yegor. It is a very interesting challenge: to be one of the best clubs in Serbia, to participate in European competitions.
Egor himself noted that he wanted to play in the RPL, but then decided that Europe was a great step in his career.
Egor Prutsev
Red Star midfielder
“How did the option with Red Star come about? I am sure that the scouts came to the Neftekhimik match and noticed it there. That’s why it worked. He wanted to go to Europe, he had that desire. I do not know why. I used to dream of playing in the RPL, but now time has passed and I have matured a bit and decided otherwise. Is it because of the current situation? No. My personal initiative. Why not RLP? I changed and I wanted it that way. Did CSKA and Spartak contact me in the summer? Yes. I refused because that was my wish.”
“Championship” reported that Prutsev’s salary in Serbia was about 80,000 euros a year, including bonuses. Quite modest by RPL standards, but adequate for the Serbian league. Journalist Luka Nikolic pointed out that they see the future of Crvena in Prucev: “We hope that Egor will be the future of the team with the most titles in Serbia. We hope to see him at a high level not only in the long term, but also during the season. Prutsev is a very interesting player, with good passing into free zones and a sense of the game. Until now he lacks a bit of physical strength for the Serbian championship, where the game is still quite tough”.
The young midfielder made his debut for Estrella on October 9, 2022 in the match on matchday 14 of the Championship against Spartak Subotica (3-0). Egor spent half the time on the field, but did not score any effective actions.
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During the 2022/2023 season, Prutsev only made 11 appearances for Red Star in all competitions and 432 minutes in total. Obviously, the 20-year-old midfielder did not count on this when he moved to Serbia, even taking into account that Yegor won the Serbian Championship and Cup with the club. Although Igor Prutsev, the footballer’s father, noted that he is interested in the greats of the RPL and European teams:
— He had offers in Russia, he could have stayed here, but he had a clear desire to try himself abroad. Were these the giants of the RPL? Yes, they were high-level football clubs. If there is a tempting offer from other clubs, some decisions will have to be made. At the moment it is very difficult to predict anything. There is interest from outside and at the same time a desire to prove himself at Red Star. Everything will depend on the position of the club, the offers, the conditions, everything.
Also in May it became known that Prutsev wants to obtain Serbian citizenship. “Egor has not yet received a Serbian passport, but there is interest in obtaining citizenship to play in the Serbian Championship, which has a strict limit on foreign players. Is Egor inclined to play for the Russian or Serbian national teams? There are no invitations from the Russian team. It is not clear whether they will be or not. Now Egor is not a first team player for his club, so my son and I are not looking to the future. Egor’s main and main task is to establish himself in the Red Star and become a player of the main team. At the moment he is only associated with playing for the Serbian club,” Prutsev Sr. noted.
Egor Prutsev in Red Star
Photo: Mike Kireev/Getty Images
In May 2023, Egor finally received Serbian citizenship. This is a clear indication that the player has a long-term cooperation with Red Star. “Championship” reported on the offer of “Basel” for Prutsev, the footballer’s father also announced interest from Udinese. As a result, Egor did not move to these clubs, but he did not stay in Belgrade either. In mid-August, the midfielder moved to Slovenian side Celje on a one-year loan. Egor already played five games with his new team and gave three assists, which is not bad to start with.
And at the beginning of September, the Italian edition of Calciomercato published interesting news: Prutsev was interested in Roma. According to the source, Roman scouts watched Yegor in the conference league match, in which Celje hosted Maccabi Tel Aviv (1-1), and Prutsev himself scored an assist. Roma values the midfielder as a good investment for the near future.
Now Prutsev needs to prove his worth in Slovenia to earn a place in the heart of the Red Star Stars or attract the attention of other European teams. We hope everything turns out well for Yegor!
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