Zenit have scored three or four goals in each match at the start of the new season, but they are still looking for a striker. The St. Petersburg club needs a centre-forward with special physical characteristics, a mainstay like Alexander Sobolev. The coach of the Russian champion Sergei Semak explained why:
“For us, of course, it’s important to have a player who can win duels and play well up front, because when there are 10 people in the box it’s quite difficult to open up the defence. Of course, I would like to have a striker who plays well on the second floor. It definitely wouldn’t hurt. It’s hard to say whether it will work or not.”
Sobolev’s transfer has not yet been finalised. But it has become known that Zenit is negotiating another centre-forward. Another foreign player from Serbia could appear at the St. Petersburg club.
New information on Sobolev’s possible transfer
Exclusive
“The story was started by Sobolev himself.” New details of the Spartak and Zenit transfer saga
According to Serbian media, Zenit is interested in buying 19-year-old Vojvodina striker Mihailo Ivanovic. According to the source, the St. Petersburg club offered 4 million euros for him. However, the blue-and-whites have a competitor – Belgian side Antwerp, which is already ready to pay 4.5 million euros for Ivanovic. Negotiations confirmed with Zenit” At the same time, he stated that he would not sell Mikhailo if Vojvodina reached the group stage of the European Cup, but if they failed to qualify, he would be forced to do so.
Selling Ivanovic to Zenit or some other club should become the most expensive transfer in the history of Vojvodina. So far, the first place on this list is the transfer of midfielder Gojko Kacar to German club Hertha in the winter of 2008 for 3 million euros. The club from Novi Sad has time to negotiate, as Mihailo’s current contract expires only in the summer of 2026.
Ivanovich graduated from Vojvodina. He scored a lot in the Serbian youth league and played for the country’s youth teams under the guidance of… the current Paris NN coach Sasa Ilic. In May 2022, at the age of 17, he entered the first team of Vojvodina for the first time, played his debut match (came on as a substitute for five minutes) and immediately left for Italy.
MIKHAILO IVANOVYCH
Photo: fkvojvodina.rs
The striker was signed by Sampdoria for the 2022/2023 season. The Genoa club paid 200 thousand euros for the rental. Apparently, not without the involvement of Dejan Stankovic. The current Spartak coach at that time was negotiating with Sampdoria and leaving Crvena Zvezda.
In Italy, however, Ivanovic played mainly for the Sampdoria U19 team. In the Italian youth championship, he made 30 appearances, scoring six goals and providing five assists. At the same time, Stankovic closely followed the progress of his compatriot. In February 2023, Dejan included the striker in the squad for the match against Inter, and in May, on the last day of the championship, he gave Mihailo his debut in Serie A. Ivanovic came on as a substitute for the last seven or eight minutes in an away match against Napoli (0:2).
Last summer, the striker returned from a loan spell with Vojvodina, as the Serbian and Italian clubs could not agree on the amount of the release fee and began to compete for a place in the team. During the season, he got his place back. Ivanovic played 32 matches in the Serbian championship (17 as a starter) and scored nine goals.
On average, per 90 minutes of play in the last Serbian championship, Ivanovic made 3.2 shots on goal and 1.5 on target. He had a fairly good percentage of goal-scoring chances (18%). The centre-forward won 48% of the set-up fights. For comparison: Sobolev, according to Sofascore, emerged victorious in 46% of aerial duels last season in the RPL.
Ivanovich is tall, 191 cm tall, quite mobile and good at catching the ball. As a striker, his main objective is to finish.
“Mihailo is ready to prove himself in adult football,” said Vojvodina coach Nemanja Krtolica, under whose leadership Ivanovic has played the most matches at professional level so far. “He has all the qualities of a powerful striker, he shoots with both feet, he has strength, the ability to interact with his teammates on the pitch and make passes under pressure. In my training, there was no footballer who played with his head better than him. I wish him good luck. Both he and I know how much effort it took to get to where he is, and this is just the beginning.”
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Ivanovic’s performance also pleased Serbian national team coach Dragan Stojkovic, who included the striker in the extended list of candidates for the trip to Euro 2024. However, Mikhailo was not included in the final application. The same was true for Zenit Strahinja’s Serbian centre-back Erakovic.
At the start of the new season, Ivanovic came on as a substitute in the first round of the Serbian championship, and then as a starter in the Europa League qualifying match against Ajax. “Vojvodina” lost to the Netherlands in Amsterdam 0-1, and Mikhailo played 70 minutes and left the field without any effective action. The club from Novi Sad certainly did not come close to the group stage of the European Cup.
However, Ivanovich’s transfer will most likely take place in the future. The young Serbian is unlikely to immediately score consistent points in the RPL. The level of the Russian championship is much higher, so he will need time to adapt.
