The striker was ready to pay 10 million, just to play against the former team.
Forward Artyom Dzyuba has been performing well for Lokomotiv lately. The goals of the football player helped the railway workers to rise in the WORLD RPL standings. Today, the striker is waiting for the first game since leaving Zenit with the former club.
The previous meeting with the St. Petersburg team ended in triumph for Artyom. The goal of the player in the last minutes deprived Zenit of victory and marked the beginning of a protracted crisis.
“Artyom needs a challenge”
The 2017/18 season was decisive for Artyom Dziuba. Before the start of the championship, Zenit changed its head coach. Instead of Mircea Lucescu, the St. Petersburg club was headed by Roberto Mancini. The relationship between the player and the coach did not work out from the very beginning.
Artyom completely stopped scoring. Against the background of the enacted Kokorin, he looked expressionless. Alexander scored seven goals in ten rounds, and Dzyuba had a goalless streak. Mancini increasingly began to leave Artyom on the bench, and the striker scored his first goal in the championship only at the end of November.
In the winter transfer window, Zenit strengthened the offensive line by purchasing Anton Zabolotny from Tosno. In terms of size and style of play, he was very reminiscent of Artyom. It seemed that Dziuba’s career at Zenit was over. Many advised the player to leave the St. Petersburg team while there is such an opportunity.
– I strongly advise Dziuba to change the team if he has the opportunity. It needs to be done urgently. It is obvious that he is losing the competition. Artyom needs a challenge, he must always prove something, but at the same time he needs calmness, an understanding that he is a player in the starting lineup. My recommendation is to go on loan and play there, otherwise he will slip past the World Cup, ”Valery Nepomnyashchiy said on the air of the Football of Russia program.
Artyom’s former coach at Tom hit the nail on the head with advice. At the end of January, Dzyuba went on loan. There were rumors of interest from Lokomotiv and Krasnodar, but in the end, the striker moved to the modest Tula Arsenal.
Artem Dziuba / Photo: ©
FC Arsenal“I’ll pay out of my pocket”
The transition to the camp of “gunsmiths” immediately shook Dziuba. The forward started churning out goals and assists. In the first official game with Akhmat, he scored an effective pass, and then gave out a series of three matches with goals.
In early April, the player experienced a slight recession in the game. He didn’t score in two games. Artyom could have missed the game of the 27th round against Zenit. Under the terms of the lease agreement, for Dzyuba’s participation in the match, Arsenal had to pay the St. Petersburg club 10 million rubles. Arsenal did not have such free money. The football player even wanted to pay the necessary amount himself to enter the field.
– I understand that by doing this, I will finally go to zero. It turns out that I came to play football for free for three or four months. But still, I agree, I’m not lying. If no one interferes with this, then I will pay out of my own pocket to play. If I don’t do this, I’ll be a cheapskate for the whole country, ”the player said in an interview with the Football of Russia program.
Artyom, of course, was a little cunning about the size of the salary at Arsenal, but the desire to part with 10 million for the sake of one match aroused only respect. Later, information appeared that Arsenal, with the support of the regional government, was ready to pay the required amount if Dzyuba showed himself brightly on the field.
Artyom did not let the leadership down. By the third minute, he had an assist to his credit. But the main event for the striker was ahead.
By the 88th minute, Arsenal were trailing 2-3, although they led twice during the meeting. The situation was further aggravated by the removal of Gorbatenko. It seemed that the more classy Zenit would bring the match to victory, but Artyom was against this. The striker finished off the ball into the goal after hitting the crossbar.
Artyom’s joy knew no bounds. He celebrated like a man possessed. The striker raised his index finger and ran towards the bench. There, he warmly embraced Arsenal coach Miodrag Bozovic. Then the striker turned his back to the Zenit bench and pointed to his last name several times.
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For the remaining minutes, the score did not change, and the St. Petersburg team took away only one point from Tula. It is not known what caused the further crisis of Zenith, but the grand failed in the ending. This was followed by another draw and defeat. As a result, the club from St. Petersburg did not even get into the Champions League zone.
Dzyuba also deserved an invitation to the national team for the World Cup, where he helped our team achieve the best result in modern history.
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Watch the meeting between Lokomotiv and Zenit live on the Match TV channel, as well as on matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru websites. The broadcast starts at 19:15 Moscow time, the starting whistle will sound at 20:00.
Locomotive – Zenit. WORLD Russian Premier League. Tour 22
