“Gayich is stronger than Fernandez, so CSKA didn’t really fight for Mario” – Yuri Semin

CSKA Moscow did not make great efforts to return the defender Mario Fernandez, since today he is weaker than Milan Gayich, according to the former coach of Lokomotiv and the Russian national team Yuri Semin.

In May 2022, Fernandez, who had been playing for CSKA since 2012, suspended his career and returned to Brazil. In April, Internacional, for which the defender had been on loan since January of this year, announced the termination of the contract with the player. In early July, CSKA communications director Kirill Breido said that under the terms of the “gentleman’s agreement” with Fernandez, if he returned to Russia, the player would only play for the army club. On July 12, the chairman of the board of Zenit, Alexander Medvedev, told Match TV that the 32-year-old footballer was undergoing a medical examination to move to the St. Petersburg team.

– Lack of transfers to the entrance to CSKA? They probably think they don’t need them. Well, Fernandez isn’t coming back. They have a great right-back who plays better than Fernandez today. Yes, I think Gajic is stronger than Fernandez. Therefore, they didn’t really fight for him,” Semin told Metaratings.ru.

On July 15, CSKA will play with Zenit in the match for the OLIMPBET Russian Super Cup. The meeting will be held in Kazan, starting at 17:00 (Moscow time). Live broadcast of the match on Match TV and MATCH PREMIER channels, websites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.