“Zenith” again “robbed” a competitor, and the Russian Brazilian left the league. RPL transfers of the week
Nikita Paglazov July 24, 2023, 2:30 PM Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Erakovic chose Saint Petersburg over Moscow. And Joaozinho returned to his homeland.
The RPL season has started! But the clubs continue to work on the transfer market. There have been a number of interesting transactions in the last week. We traditionally collect them in our summary.
Joaozinho: Sochi → Novurizontino (free agent)
The Brazilian, legendary for the RPL, left the Russian championship. Joaozinho came to Krasnodar in 2011 and later played for Dynamo and Sochi. In 2016, Joaozinho even received a Russian passport! The 34-year-old’s contract with Sochi ended, the winger went home. Joaozinho signed an agreement with the Brazilian Serie B club Novurizontino.
joaozinho
ex-footballer from Krasnodar and Sochi
“I don’t want to end football, this is not my last club. In the future, I don’t know if I will be able to return to Russia, so far I can’t say “yes” or “no”. I would like to play here in Brazil for now. However, I remember the stage of my career in Russia only with warmth, because its best moment was the match for Krasnodar. After all these emotions and living in this country for 12.5 years, I can safely say: Russia is my second homeland! I will never forget this country, for me and my family it is a second home”.
Who else received a Russian passport from foreigners? There are many Brazilians on the list:
Foreigners who became Russians. Someone for love, and someone for the edge
Mikita Moțpan: Balti → Fakel (€150,000)
Nikita Motspan
Photo: FC Fakel
Another interesting transfer from Fakel. Voronezh took 22-year-old midfielder Nikita Motspan. The Moldovan previously played in his homeland for the Balti club. Fakel acquired Motpan for only €150,000. Interestingly, the footballer was on the Rubin Academy roster from 2017 to 2019. Also on Motpan’s account ten matches for the Moldovan national team. Nikita already made his debut for the club in the match of the 1st round of the RPL against Rostov (1: 2).
“Torch” almost made a mini-sensation in the first round of the RPL:
Karpin was framed before the game. But even the weakened Rostov made a great comeback!
Strahinja Erakovic: Red Star Zvezda → Zenit (€8M)
Sergei Semak and Strakhinya Erakovich
Photo: fc-zenit.ru
Zenit carried out a great transfer. And again it turned out to “steal” a competitor (for the first time – with Mario Fernandez and CSKA).
For €8 million, the Club took defender Strahinja Erakovic from Red Star Star. The clubs are partners, so St. Petersburgers had a priority right of purchase. Spartak was interested in Erakovich, they even agreed on everything, but Strahinya opted for Zenit at the last moment, and the rojiblancos withdrew from the negotiation. The reigning champion of Russia scored a moral victory over a main rival. Erakovic signed a contract with Zenit under the 4+1 scheme. Strahini has five caps with the Serbian national team, he traveled with the national team to the 2022 World Cup. With Red Star Zvezda he won three championships and three Serbian Cups.
Why did Strakhinya choose to move to St. Petersburg?
Zenit have already beaten Spartak. Peter signed a defender who was going to Moscow
Ilya Vakhania: Zenit → Rostov (free agent)
Ilya Vakhania
Photo: fc-zenit.ru
“Rostov” took a student from the St. Petersburg club of “Zenith”. The southerners as a free agent took defender Ilya Vakhania. The length of the contract with the 22-year-old was not disclosed. Vakhania did the pre-season training camp with Rostov, as his contract with Zenit ended in June. Previously, Vakhania did not play in the Russian Premier League or the Russian Cup.
Maxim Shnaptsev: Loko-2 → Pari Nizhny Novgorod (€30,000)
Maximo Shnaptsev (right)
Photo: FC Pari NN
Nizhny Novgorod saw the prospect of a football player from the Lokomotiv system. For €30 thousand, Pari NN took defender Maxim Shnaptsev. The 19-year-old footballer did not play for the main team of Lokomotiv, playing for youth and youth teams in the UFL and MFL. Maxim also has two caps for the Russian U19 team. It should be noted that Shnaptsev’s contract with Sergei Yuran’s team was signed until the summer of 2027. In the match of the 1st round of the RPL with Zenit (0: 2), the player entered the field in the 55th minute, and two minutes later the Petersburgers opened the scoring. It is not the best debut, although Shnaptsev is not to blame for the goals conceded.
The removal of the Pari NN defender helped Zenit to their first win of the season:
Zenit hardly dealt with Nizhny. And now Peter seems to be losing Malcolm too.
Egor Karpitsky: Shakhtar Soligorsk → Krylya Sovetov (1 million euros)
Egor Karpitsky (left)
Photo: FC Krylya Sovetov
The Samara club took a promising footballer from Belarus. Krylia acquired center forward Yegor Karpitsky for €1 million. The footballer was brought up in the Shakhtar Soligorsk system, since 2022 he has been playing for the main team. On account of his 35 games, he scored 15 goals and gave five assists. Karpitsky made his debut for Wings in the match of the first round of the RPL with Akhmat (2: 1). He was the starter but was substituted after the break.
