Zenit spent 22 million euros, newcomers to the RPL took foreign players. RPL transfers of the week
Kirill Zakatchenko September 2, 2024, 14:00 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
And Fakel hired a striker with experience playing in the First Division.
There is not much time left until the transfer window closes in Russia on September 12. In the meantime, clubs are continuing to strengthen their squads. Last week, Zenit was more active than others and spent more than 20 million euros on new arrivals.
Previous RPL Transfer Summary:
Zenit sent the player to England, Krylia signed the Croatian. RPL transfers of the week
Luciano Gondu: Argentinos Juniors → Zenit (12 million euros)
Luciano Gondu
Photo: fc-zenit.ru
The St. Petersburg club made the most expensive signing of the week in the RPL. The Russian champions did not spend 12 million euros for the 23-year-old Argentine forward. Before that, Gondu played exclusively in his homeland, and now he made his brilliant debut in the RPL. Sergei Semak included the South American in the starting lineup for the match against Paris NN (3-0), and the forward did not disappoint. Gondu immediately began to earn money – he scored two goals in Nizhny Novgorod. Luciano has 14 goals for Argentinos Juniors. I wonder how many will be scored in the Zenit shirt?
The Zenit newcomer was included in the RPL Tour squad:
Team of the seventh round of the RPL. What a debutant for Zenith, the backbone of Spartak and the liquidators of Lokomotiv
Alexander Sobolev: Spartak → Zenit (10 million euros)
Alexander Sobolev (right)
Photo: fc-zenit.ru
The move from Spartak to Zenit is a rare occurrence. Not everyone will decide to make such a transfer, given the relationship between the clubs. But Sobolev was not at all embarrassed. This season, Alexander played only one match in the RPL, after which the forward was suspended from training with the main team. It is curious that Sobolev was introduced during the presentation of the SKA hockey club. The parties agreed on an amount of 10 million euros, although Spartak wanted 12 million euros, and Zenit was counting on 8 million euros. As a result, the principle “neither us nor you” worked. According to “Championato”, the coach of the white-blues, Sergei Semak, insisted on this transition. I wonder how Gonda, Sobolev and Mateo Cassierra will fit into one lineup now?
Details of Sobolev’s transfer to Zenit:
OFFICIAL: Sobolev is at Zenit. The transfer would not have been possible without Semak.
Alexey Kashtanov: Ural → Fakel (loan)
Alexey Kashtanov
Photo by: FC Fakel
The Voronezh club needed to strengthen its attacking line. Suffice it to say that before the 7th round of the RPL, Fakel was in last place in the league in terms of goals scored. The Voronezh team scored only two goals – the same number that Dynamo Makhachkala scored at that time. Other clubs are doing better. Kashtanov cannot be called a young footballer (28 years old), but he has experience playing in the RPL (54 matches, 11 goals, eight assists). At the end of last season, Alexey fell into the First League with Ural, but now he again has the opportunity to dust himself off in the First Division. The parties agreed on a lease until the end of the season.
Diego Luna: Baltika → Khimki (loan)
Diego Luna
Photo: fckhimki.com
Baltika lost another player from among those who played for the team in the RPL. Previously, Evgeniy Latyshonok left for Zenit and Danila Kozlov signed a contract with Krasnodar. Luna is the second player to move to the Moscow region from Kaliningrad this summer. The first was midfielder Kirill Kaplenko. Luna moved to Baltika at the beginning of 2024 and has since made 20 appearances for the club from western Russia (12 in the RPL). Khimki loaned the Venezuelan until the end of this season and Luna has already made his debut for the new club. He came on the field in the second half of the match against CSKA (0:2).
The first game at the new club was not successful for Luna:
CSKA showed a new ability. With calm and killing, they broke into the top 3
Roberto Fernandez: Bolivar → Akron (on loan)
Roberto Fernandez
Photo by: Akron
The defender of the Bolivian national team returns to the Russian championship. Last summer, Fernandez left his homeland and moved to Baltika (on loan for a year). 40 matches, two goals, four assists – Fernandez’s statistics at the westernmost club in Russia. At the end of the season, the Kaliningrad team dropped to the First League and Roberto returned home. Six matches – that’s how much the defender played between two business trips to Russia. He ended up back in the RPL – Akron rented the player until the end of the season. It seems that Fernandez is again in a fight for survival. Or will everything be different?
Vasily Cherov: Fakel → Chernomorets (free agent)
Vasily Cherov
Photo by: FC Chernomorets
Full-back Cherov signed a contract with Fakel in early 2021. Then Vasily moved to Voronezh from Krasnodar (he played for Kuban). Now he has returned to the south of Russia again – Chernomorets picked up the footballer on the free agent market. Cherov played 50 matches in the RPL – a beautiful figure. His anniversary passed this season, in the first round with Dynamo (1-3). After that, Vasily fell out of the main draw and is now waiting to return to the “Best League in the World”.
Cherov’s former club is looking bad so far:
“Rostov” put on a show and caused a powerful defeat. But “Torch” was downright terrible. Video
Roman Yuzepchuk: Khimki → Sokol (loan)
Roman Yuzepchuk
Photo by: FC Sokol
But this player turned out to be useless for Khimki. At least this season. Yuzepchuk has not been staying in one place for long lately. In 2021 he moved to Rukh, in 2022 to Shakhtar Soligorsk, in 2023 to Torpedo Moscow, and at the beginning of 2024 to Khimki. After another six months, Roman left for Sokol, which rented him out until the end of the season. For Yuzepchuk, the First League is a more familiar tournament than the RPL. Still, in the second strongest division he played 30 matches, and in the first – 12.
