“Karavaev and Sutormin are much stronger than Mario Fernandez” – Kuzmichev

Football functionary Vladimir Kuzmichev admitted to RB Sport that he does not understand the meaning of the possible transfer of defender Mario Fernandez to Zenit.

On July 12, Alexander Medvedev, chairman of the board of the Blue-White-Blues, told Match TV that the 32-year-old footballer was undergoing a medical examination to move to the St. Petersburg team.

“I don’t understand this transfer from a sporting point of view, because the guys that Sergey Bogdanovich has available will at least look no worse,” Kuzmichev said. – I don’t understand why, for past merits, an age-old player should be taken to the position of fullback, a very energy-consuming position, and pay him a rather impressive salary.

– Can Fernandez replace Karavaev or the same Sutormin?

– An artificial priority will be created for Mario in order to somehow justify the acquisition of this player. For me, Karavaev and Sutormin are much stronger players than Fernandez. Physiologically, they are more suitable for the role of extreme defender. I repeat, there is no getting away from Mario’s age, nature takes its toll, and the right-back position is very energy-consuming and definitely not for an age-old football player.

Fernandez played for CSKA from 2012 to 2022. Together with the Red-Blues, he became the champion of Russia three times, won the Russian Cup and the Super Cup twice.