Zakharyan was very close to moving to Chelsea in the summer transfer window, but difficulties with the transfer of money did not allow the deal to take place here and now. Now it’s not a fact that Arsene will leave for London, because Barcelona and Real Madrid have joined the fight for him. Have the Catalans found a new Messi in Russia?

Transfer to Chelsea was close

The 19-year-old Dynamo player is already one of the main stars of the Russian championship. He is actively attracted to the national team and they rely on him. If it weren’t for the sanctions, Arsène would certainly have fired up at the World Cup in Qatar this year and would have skyrocketed his transfer fee. However, even despite the complete isolation of our football, Zakharyan still attracted the attention of European top clubs.

The news of Chelsea’s interest seemed far-fetched at first. But every day it became clearer that the transition of the Russian football player to the London club is more than real. Actually, the parties kept their finger on the pulse to the last. If it were not for the sanctions against the Russian banking system, we would now be admiring photographs of Zakharyan in a Chelsea uniform.

It’s nice that Dynamo absolutely adequately assess the situation for their player. A member of the club’s board of directors, Dmitry Gafin, in an interview with RB Sport, made it clear that the “white-blue” are not going to keep the player, but, on the contrary, are glad that their pupil can reach a different level. It was expected that Zakharyan’s transfer to Chelsea would simply be postponed until winter. The issue looked almost resolved, but then the Spanish giants intervened.

Arsen Zakharyan / Photo: © NurPhoto / Contributor / NurPhoto / Gettyimages.ru

Why Barça is a cool option for Arsene

According to Sport.es, Zakharyan is on the shortlist of Barcelona and Real Madrid, the leaders of not only Spanish but also world football. And it’s very interesting. There is a feeling that in the Example it will be even easier for Arsene, taking into account the peculiarities of his game. The Russian is technical, smart, loves a subtle passing game. According to the description, he is simply the perfect player for Barça. Moreover, the Catalans are now in a transitional period, and head coach Xavi is trying various options for tactics and composition.

Actually, there are not so many big names in Barcelona at the moment. Rookie Robert Lewandowski is certainly one of them, but he is already 34 years old. Let us recall that Zakharyan is 15 years younger. Arsen is the future of football and a man who can improve. Perhaps the last time Barca showed interest in a Russian player after Euro 2008, where Arshavin’s star sparkled, but then Andrey moved to London’s Arsenal.

14 years later, history repeats itself with Zakharyan. Arsene is followed by Barcelona, ​​Real Madrid and the London club. True, this time not Arsenal, but Chelsea. The only difference is that Arshavin was then 27 years old, and Zakharyan is now only 19. In any case, we can safely say that Russian players have not been hunted like that for a very long time. Just since the days of Prime Arshavin.

Photo: © Stuart MacFarlane / Contributor / Arsenal FC / Gettyimages.com

It’s a must to go

Questions on whether to go or not, should not be in principle. When the greatest clubs in European football are interested in you at that age, this is already a great recognition and a huge advance. Especially in difficult times for Russian sports, when the chance to go to perform abroad, to put it mildly, is not the highest. It would be foolish to miss such an opportunity.

Of course, there can be no question of any betrayal of the country. On the contrary, such transfers will bring world sports closer together and show that nothing bad will happen if a Russian player plays in England or Spain. Many people understand this. Chelsea fans, for the most part, were waiting for Zakharyan’s transfer with great enthusiasm. They didn’t care about the political situation and what country Arsen was from.