The foreign forwards of the Red-Whites are clearly not earning their wages.
On Sunday, Spartak lost important points in the race for silver at home. The team of Guillermo Abascal failed to open the defense of PARI NN in 90 minutes (0:0).
In the absence of the disqualified Alexander Sobolev, Keita Balde first took the place in the center of the attack, and Shamar Nicholson appeared in the end. At the decisive moment, both legionnaires were untenable in the scoring sense.
Balde promised to score 15 goals in the RPL, but fulfilled the plan only by 20%
Immediately after arriving at Spartak, Keita Balde publicly set a daring goalscoring bar for the season in the RPL – at least 15 goals. The plans of the Senegalese seemed overly optimistic, given that he had last demonstrated such performance before six years ago at Lazio, when he scored 16 goals in Serie A and was bought by Monaco for 30 million euros.
Balde Keita and Ruslan Litvinov / Photo: © Mikhail Zimin / Match TV
Probably, in his best years, Balde really could “break” the Russian championship, but the 28-year-old striker moved to Spartak in the status of a downed pilot. In his previous club, Cagliari, he, to put it mildly, did not light up. The striker did not score in 16 games in a row, but only scored three goals in a season. The contract with the Italian club was valid for another two years, but Cagliari calmly released the player as a free agent.
Balde could have ended up in Russia a year earlier, but then the player’s financial demands seemed too high. After a weak season, Keith’s appetites waned, but his annual salary at Spartak still amounted to a solid 1.4 million euros. Approximately the same amount in CSKA, taking into account all the bonuses, earns Fedor Chalov, who has scored 21 goals this season in various tournaments.
Spartak players were impressed by the technical level of the newcomer in training. In terms of handling the ball, Balde confirmed the quality mark of a graduate of the Barcelona academy. But within the framework of the RPL, the ex-forward of Lazio, Monaco and Inter could not demonstrate his toughness before the winter break for objective reasons.
In September, Balde caught up with a disqualification from Italy for doping violations. It’s all the fault of the decision of the Cagliari coach, who, after one of the defeats, ripped the whole team apart and kept it in the locker room for more than an hour. Doping officers did not wait for Balde, and as a result of the investigation, the player was punished with a three-month ban for missing the test. Spartak lost the striker for the autumn period, and Balde himself lost a quarter of his annual salary (350 thousand euros).
It is clear that after this it became even more difficult to implement the “15 goals per season” plan. For Spartak, Balde scored for the first time in the RPL only in April in the game with Dynamo, and played his best match against the main outsider of the season, Torpedo (1 + 1). In total, the forward has 3 goals in 11 matches. The main forward of the “red-whites” Sobolev has much better statistics – 13 + 8 in 26 matches.
Is it worth keeping a legionnaire with a decent salary on the bench, especially when he does not provide the required quality at key moments? It is logical to take a foreigner when he is head and shoulders above the local players, but Balde clearly does not meet this criterion. The Senegalese lost the competition to Sobolev without options, and in addition, the 19-year-old pupil of Spartak Pavel Meleshin, who scored three goals for the first team in the championship and the Cup, is moving further and further from the base.
Guillermo Abascal / Photo: © Denis Bushkovsky / Match TV
Back in early spring, Guillermo Abascal, answering the question why Balde gets little playing time, spoke harshly about the striker, making it clear that the guy was not good enough in the preparatory process: “You need to earn a place in the starting lineup in training. Who trains how – he plays like that.
If previous downed pilots from Europe like Luis Adriano and Victor Moises brought Spartak real benefit, then Keith Balde did not convince with his game in his first Russian season. The problem is that the striker was given a contract for three years at once. It’s not possible to get rid of Balde just like that: either pay a penalty or look for a new club for him somewhere. At the moment, the legionnaire is rather perceived as a burden on the salary budget – he did not become a real combat unit in the attack in a year.
Nicholson completely turned sour at Abascal
The Jamaican flew to Spartak in the wake of his bright season in Belgium. Last winter, the 8 million euros paid for him looked like an adequate price for a scoring striker. Under Paolo Vanoli, he was a regular starter and produced some memorable performances.
Shamar Nicholson / Photo: © Denis Bushkovsky / Match TV
With the arrival of Abascal, Nicholson’s position in the team changed. The attacking trio Promes-Sobolev-Mozes regularly delivered goals at the beginning of the season, while Shamar got a few minutes at the end of the meetings. For the entire season, Nicholson managed to score only in two RPL matches, and after the restart he did not score even once.
The goal drought of the 26-year-old striker has already stretched for 12 matches. A salary of 1.5 million euros with such statistics is pure charity from Spartak. It will definitely not be possible to sell Nicholson for the same money that was paid to Charleroi, but the club can still recapture some of the funds spent. If there is a buyer willing to pay 5-6 million euros, it will be a great success for Spartak.
This is not to say that Nicholson is completely hopeless. The striker has scoring chances almost every time he appears on the field, but the situation with the implementation of the situation is quite dreary. In terms of the ratio of chances and goals scored, he is the worst in the RPL: only 3 goals with 11 chances.
Nicholson is now only Abascal’s third choice as a centre-forward. The reasons for the apparent decline can be explained not only by distrust on the part of the coach. This is more of a consequence than a cause. In Russia, legionnaires often lose motivation with a good contract. If at first Nicholson showed his class, then over time he completely turned sour.
Spartak has bound itself by an agreement with Nicholson for five years at once, seeing him as a striker for many years. It will be a huge problem for the club if the Jamaican football player decides to use Kokorin’s tactics at Fiorentina: the Russian flatly refuses to break his contract with the club. If a buyer cannot be found for Nicholson, Spartak will have to continue to pay 1.5 million euros to a player who has not been of real use for a long time.
Where to look for an attacker?
Obviously, at least one of the foreign strikers will leave Spartak in the summer. If Balde is still likely to get his chance next season, then parting with Nicholson is almost a matter of decision.
At this historical moment, bringing a quality striker from Europe is a task of increased complexity. After the failed signing of Pedro Roshi, Spartak no longer looks towards the Brazilian market of attacking players. This is confirmed by the transfers of Schurrle, Ponce, Larsson, Moses, Nicholson and Balde. Probably, the European market will be searched for next summer as well.
The increased budget for next season and the potential amount from the sale of Nicholson allow us to count on a quality catch. If we turn to the Italian market, from where several players have already come to Spartak, then in an affordable price category, Eldor Shamurodov, Cyril Dessers and David Okereke from Cremonese, owned by Roma, as well as Udinese striker Isaac Success, who “ Spartak wanted to sign back in 2016.
If we analyze the Russian market, then it will be even more difficult to really increase here. There are not so many attackers available and suitable in their qualities. The ideal for Spartak is the purchase of Konstantin Tyukavin, who does not need to adapt to the RPL. The 20-year-old Dynamo forward had his most productive season in his career (9+7).
Konstantin Tyukavin / Photo: © Denis Bushkovsky / Match TV
You will have to pay at least 10 million euros for the Dynamo player, whom Zenit has already laid eyes on. The price may seem high, but it’s only a little more than Nicholson’s transfer fee. If Spartak really wants to challenge Zenit, don’t be intimidated by bold moves in the transfer market.
