The transfer window in the Russian Championship will close on September 14.
In Europe’s top leagues, player transfers from club to club have been put on hold until January. At the same time, teams can still sign free agents. Now there are many prominent figures on the market who, for various reasons, could not find a job over the summer. Among them, one can even meet stars of the first magnitude in the recent past.
If you give free rein to your imagination, each of them can be imagined as part of the RPL clubs. And someone from our list was considered as a gain quite seriously.
Eden Hazard (midfielder, 32)
Last club: “Real”
Who could be useful: “Torch”
The Belgian enjoyed four years in Madrid, ate a huge belly, and went out on the field on big holidays. Hazard’s transfer to Real Madrid is without options the worst in the history of the Spanish giant, who in total spent more than 200 million euros on a player who turned out to be useless: transfer amount + salary for four years.
Hazard admitted the other day that it was “time for him to enjoy life with family and friends while sipping beer.” It seems that one of the brightest players of his generation is close to retiring at the age of 32. Everything can be changed by a call from Voronezh, where a good creative is in dire need.
Eden earned money for several generations to come, so that in the “Torch” it will be possible to play for a symbolic ruble – most importantly, there will be an opportunity to revive a career. Azar has every chance to become the new idol of the Trade Unions stadium, but first he will need to win the competition from Khyzyr Appayev.
David De Gea (goalkeeper, 32)
Last club: “Manchester United”
Who could be useful: “Rostov”
In the summer, the Spanish goalkeeper was forced to part with the main club of his career. Manchester United decided to bet on Onana and did not want to pay De Gea a salary at the level of a top star. For a couple of months, an experienced goalkeeper could not find a team for himself. Options with Real Madrid and Bayern have not developed into something serious, and the Spaniard himself does not want to go to Saudi Arabia yet.
In the RPL, clubs prefer to use Russian passport holders as goalkeepers, but for the sake of De Gea, it is worth making an exception. At the start of the season in Rostov, Sergey Pesyakov frankly “floats”, who urgently needs a worthy replacement. Knowing Spanish, Karpin will not find it difficult to find a common language with a star goalkeeper who needs a new challenge.
De Gea was at one time the highest paid player in the Premier League, earning around £20m a year. You won’t earn that kind of money in Rostov, but David will have the opportunity to enjoy gorgeous sunsets, famous crabs and Khoren Bayramyan’s unique dribbling.
Phil Jones (guard, 31)
Last club: “Manchester United”
Who could be useful: “Pari NN”
If the RPL needs a new face, there is no better candidate. In recent years, the meme-man has hardly taken the field, and in the 2022/23 season he did not play a single match at all. The defender with the experience of playing for the England national team clearly managed to miss football.
It makes sense to consider Jones’ candidacy for Pari NN, who knows a lot about tough defenders. The Gotsuk-Jones pair has a good chance of becoming the most brutal in the entire league. Four years ago, Zenit’s English-language Twitter was inundated with requests from Manchester United fans to buy Jones. Now you don’t even have to pay for it.
Jesse Lingard (midfielder, 30)
Last club: Nottingham Forest
Who could be useful: CSKA
Another former Manchester United player who has not yet managed to find a new club. He spent the past season without much brilliance (0 + 0 in 17 Premier League matches) in the modest Nottingham Forest, which predictably did not want to renew the contract with him.
In the summer of Lingard, agents offered teams from different countries, including CSKA. The communications director of the army club, Kirill Breido, confirmed the existence of such an option, but then said that the transfer of Jesse was unlikely to take place. Probably, then the requests of Lingard’s representatives were inadequately high, but in a few weeks the situation could change. There is no great demand in Europe for the Englishman, so why not return to negotiations with the Red-Blues? CSKA, on the other hand, will definitely not interfere with a qualitative increase in the attacking line.
Raja Nainggolan (midfielder, 35)
Last club: SPAL
Who could be useful: “Spartacus”
This Belgian spent almost his entire career in Italy, where he managed to play for many clubs, including Roma and Inter. In Serie A, older players have always been valued, so even at 35, Nainggolan could count on interesting offers. As a result, Raja did not wait for anything worthy of attention.
In the summer, his agents had to knock on clubs in different countries, including Russia. They wrote about options with Spartak, but the Moscow team reacted to this without enthusiasm. Since then, two months have passed and the opinion of the bosses could change. The beginning of the season showed that the Spartacists would definitely not be hindered by a player with a pass to the center of the field. In monetary terms, this is unlikely to greatly burden Spartak, now Nainggolan is ready to play even for a nominal fee. “For SPAL, I play for pennies, but with pleasure,” Raja noted in the spring.
Jean-Philippe Gbamin (midfielder, 27)
Last club: Everton
Who could be useful: “Dynamo”
The Ivorian defensive midfielder already flew into the RPL last year: Gbamen spent six months on loan from CSKA. Recently, the player terminated the contract with Everton and is now actively looking for a new team. According to Metaratings, agents offer his services to several Russian clubs at once.
Dynamo lacks a profile defensive midfielder. Marcel Licka, in search of solutions, even had to transfer Laxalt to this position. The signing of Gbamen will help strengthen the problem area if the player’s salary requests suit the Blue and White.
Jaloliddin Masharipov (forward, 30 years old)
Last club: “Al-Nasr”
Who could be useful: “Locomotive”
The striker of the national team of Uzbekistan fell victim to the influx of top foreign players to Saudi Arabia. First, Masharipov had to give up his game number to Ronaldo, and when the number of foreigners exceeded the allowable limit, the player was forced to leave Al Nasr.
According to journalist Ivan Karpov, Lokomotiv are seriously discussing the possibility of signing an experienced winger. After strange purchases during the reign of German managers, the club does not have much money left for transfers, so options with free agents are now a priority for Loko.
