Zenit continues to search for a replacement for Malcolm. Time is short: just over three weeks before the close of RPL’s summer transfer window (September 14). One of the candidates for the St. Petersburg club, apparently, remains the Brazilian winger from Benfica David Neres, but the issue of his transfer has not yet been resolved. According to the Portuguese edition of Record, the Russian champions increased their offer to €30 million plus €5 million in bonuses, but it was not accepted in Lisbon. Perhaps, instead of David Neres, the blues, whites and blues will buy another Brazilian, and where Malcolm, from Spain, was taken from.
A story about a possible newcomer to Zenit David Neres
“Zenith” has officially confirmed Malcolm’s departure! And who will the club replace him with?
According to the Relevo website, Zenit is trying to negotiate with Betis the transfer of winger Luis Enrique. According to the source, the Russian champions paid between 20 and 30 million euros for the 22-year-old, while the Sevilla club are demanding 35 million euros, claiming that the St. Petersburg club can better offer him. Meanwhile, Transfermarkt figures Luis Enrique at just 15 million euros. Betis bought the young Brazilian from Fluminense a year ago for 8 million euros.
Curiosity: Malcolm can be replaced at Zenit by a winger who has… only scored one goal in the Spanish championship. In his first and possibly only full season with Real Betis, Luis Enrique played 33 league games and scored 1+3 with a goal+pass system. The stats, frankly, aren’t staggering, especially considering the Brazilian’s price tag. Luis Enrique started 21 times and played 1,813 minutes, being seventh in the team in time spent on the pitch.
Potential newcomer Zenit scored the only goal in the Spanish championship in January 2023 in an away match with Rayo Vallecano (2:1). This goal by Luis Enrique was the winner for Betis. The Brazilian received the ball as soon as he crossed the center of the field, beat the rival one on one marvelously, advanced to the Rayo Vallecano penalty area and shot from the bottom with his right foot into the far corner.
But if you take the statistics of Luis Enrique in all Betis tournaments, then everything is not so bad. In 44 games he has scored three goals and provided eight assists. He excelled twice in the Europa League: in the group stage he hit the gates of Ludogorets and Roma. The Brazilian gave an excellent game in January this year in the semifinal of the Spanish Super Cup with Barcelona. The young winger provided two assists and helped his team bounce back twice. Barça finished off Betis only in the penalty shootout.
In the Spanish championship, Luis Enrique adds four assists. Here is the first one, in the September game with Villarreal. The Brazilian finished off a fresh cross to the far post with his left foot, right on Rodri Sánchez’s leg.
And this is the second. From the April match of the 29th day of Examples with Espanyol. Luis Enrique skilfully beat his opponent one on one and shot accurately.
Here is the third assist from the Brazilian. The winger did it a week later in the away game against Osasuna. In fact, Luis Enrique shot at the goal, and if Juan Miranda had not interposed the ball, there would have been a goal.
And Luis Enrique started the new season with effective actions in the first round of Examples. In a meeting with Villarreal (2:1) on the road, the Brazilian participated in the attack for Betis’s first goal. He flew behind the defender and decided the episode well: he removed the ball from under him, after which he rolled it under the blow of Ayose Pérez.
In general, Luis Enrique is a talented footballer who can have a great future. He was called up to the Brazil youth team and, in November 2021, authoritative Spanish publication As wrote about Real Madrid’s interest in the winger. In May of this year, Luis Enrique was included in the top 10 of the best dribblers in the world under 23 years of age, according to the CIES Football Observatory: he was ranked sixth, ranking between Rodrigo from Real Madrid and Khvichi Kvaratskhelia from Naples.
According to SofaScore, last season La Liga Luis Enrique led the team in number of dribbles (56, with a 52% success rate). He is second in shots (42), shots on goal (17) and duels won (172). Third in number of fouls committed on himself (41). This is what the Betis side can now give to Zenit. In all other aspects, the young player needs to grow. So it was with Malcolm, who also moved to the St. Petersburg club at the age of 22. The Brazilian did not open up at Zenith right away.
Luis Enrique at Real Betis
Photo: Aitor Alcalde/Getty Images
Betis manager Manuel Pellegrini spoke about Luis Enrique during last season:
“He can beat one on one, he has good skills. Luis Enrique is a young player and coming directly from Brazil to Europe is not easy. It takes a lot of time for players to get used to how they have to play here. But judging by his adaptation, I think Luis Enrique is on the right track and will succeed in Europe.”
Now, when Russian clubs are suspended from international tournaments, it is not so easy to attract big legionnaires to the RPL. Therefore, it is unlikely that Zenit will be able to replace Malcolm with a player of the same class. But for those who are ready to start, you will have to overpay.
