Photo: © FC Krasnodar
Several well-known Russian players never got promoted to Europe.
Dynamo and Chelsea have not agreed on the purchase of talented midfielder Arsen Zakharyan. The Russian must have already packed his things for moving to London, but now, at least until winter, the suitcases will remain intact.
Deals to move promising Russians to Europe have failed more than once. Many stars at one time either could not obtain permission for a transfer from their clubs, or did not dare to move themselves.
Recall the top 5 most high-profile stories.
In Krasnodar, Fedor Smolov revealed himself for real. The forward scored crazy goals and was the top scorer in the RPL. No wonder he was noticed by cool European teams with a long history.
– My agent once spoke with the sports director of Real Madrid. I didn’t go deep. The agent told me about it. Of the real options was Borussia Dortmund. I did not go only because the coach changed there. And West Ham, before the World Cup. I decided not to move.
Am I sorry? Yes, sorry. I wish I knew the buyback … I had an injury, my leg hurt. Figured that I need to recover, get in shape. And then I would have moved to another club, to another championship, ”Smolov said on the air of the Caution: Sobchak YouTube channel.
Then Smolov nevertheless had a voyage to Europe, but did not last long. The striker played for Celta for six months and managed to score against Barcelona and Real Madrid. Apparently, this is where Fedor’s European achievements came to an end.
CSKA graduate Igor Akinfeev has been playing for CSKA since 2003. Already as a young man, he began to show a confident game and staked out the first number. Naturally, a number of big clubs wanted to lure such a guy into their ranks, but Akinfeev is still devoted to the club. He did not change the red and blue colors, although there were always prospects for moving to a top club.
– Either in 2005 or in 2006 there was some talk about Arsenal. But some specifics, so that the paper gets to me … Maybe there was something, but I don’t know. I do not want to say that there was something to seem cool. It seems to me that in Russia there is a story when they offer the amount for a player, they always ask to multiply it by 2 or 3. Having played all my life in CSKA, I am grateful that I did not have any agent, – Akinfeev said on the air of the Youtube channel ” Sychev podcast and Denis Kazansky”.
In 2010, the main Spanish newspapers wrote about Alan Dzagoev. Real Madrid itself wanted to pick up a talented army man. Moreover, this information is from the original source – the former head coach of CSKA Valery Gazzaev.
– It was a talent. Representatives of Real Madrid arrived, who were really ready. It was 2008 when we played with a Spanish club. In my opinion, in the UEFA Cup then we won all six matches. We came and saw it. In general, they put the question in such a way that in a year or two we will pick it up. Dzagoev was a unique player. I thought that he would be one of the greatest players in European and world football, ”Gazzaev said on the air of Match Premier.
Alan did not go anywhere and became loyal to CSKA, like Akinfeev. True, this summer he left the Red-Blues, and he has not yet found a new club for himself. Rumor has it that it will be Rubin, where Dzagoev will reunite with Leonid Slutsky.
The story with Chalov is a miscalculation of CSKA. At least that’s what the fans think. Crystal Palace rolled out a generous offer to the army team, but for some reason the Muscovites did not want their pupil to play in England.
– The army team said that they themselves need a player, that he remains an important part of their plans. They said that even for such an amount it makes no sense for them to sell it, because there were big tasks in the Champions League. “Crystal Palace” was ready to pay 25 million pounds, but even for this amount, CSKA did not let Chalov go,” the striker’s agent Christian Emile said on the air of the Match Premier TV channel.
After the collapse of the deal, Fedor lost motivation and could not play normally for two years. The striker recovered only after a loan to the Swiss Basel. I would like to believe that after the failure with Chelsea, Zakharyan will need less time to recover.
Source: Sportbox
I am a sports writer and journalist who has written for various online publications including Sportish. I’m originally from the UK but currently live in Toronto, Canada. I’m also an author on Sportish and have written several articles on a variety of sports-related topics.
Bosnian midfielder Miralem Pjanic has announced that he will retire from football at the age of 35. In an interview with Tuttosport, the player said that he wants to spend more time with his family.
The Bosnian, who played a total of 666 official matches during his career, scored 77 goals and provided 132 assists. Pjanic, whose career has included clubs such as Barcelona and Juventus, has won a total of 9 trophies.
Pjanich’s last team was Moscow CSKA.
Source: Soccer Ru
I’m a sports enthusiast and journalist who has worked in the news industry for over 8 years. I currently work as an author at Sportish and my work focuses mainly on sports news.
The Arbitration Court of the Rostov Region proposed to conclude a peace agreement between FC “Rostov” and the Department of Property and Land Relations of the city of Rostov-on-Don in the request to recover from the football club almost 465 million rubles of debt under a land lease agreement, the court file shows.
“The court decided to grant the defendant’s motion. To reconcile the parties, the trial was postponed to January 14, 2026 at 10:40 Moscow time. It invites the parties to take measures for peace,” reads the minutes of the court hearing.
According to the case documents, in June 2025, the department appealed to the Arbitration Court of the Rostov Region to recover FC “Rostov” has more than 348 million rubles of debt under the land lease agreement, as well as 127 million rubles in penalties.
In October 2025 a FC “Rostov” reported financial problems to the club, according to the general director of the club Igor Goncharov, RFU they asked management and owners FC “Rostov” promptly take measures to eliminate problems in order to obtain the license for the new season.
Source: Soccer Ru
I’m a sports enthusiast and journalist who has worked in the news industry for over 8 years. I currently work as an author at Sportish and my work focuses mainly on sports news.
Samara football club “Wings of the Soviets” paid 535 million rubles to Rostec subsidiary “RT-Capital”. This was reported by the club’s press service.
Former Chairman of the Board of Directors of Krylya Sovetov Dmitry Yakovlev told reporters that the club plans to repay the debt of 555 million rubles by the end of 2025. He added that it is planned to fully close the debt with RT-Capital by the end of January – beginning of February.
On December 1, enforcement proceedings were initiated to collect a debt of more than 928 million rubles from Krylya Sovetov in favor of RT-Capital. Previously, the decision to collect the debt was made by the Moscow Arbitration Court, then the 9th Arbitration Court of Appeal confirmed this decision. The football club has borrowed funds for financial support, but has not met its debt repayment obligations since 2016.
Source: Soccer Ru
I’m a sports enthusiast and journalist who has worked in the news industry for over 8 years. I currently work as an author at Sportish and my work focuses mainly on sports news.
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