The Transfermarkt portal, which specializes in generating estimated prices for football players around the world, has rolled out a new update for the Russian championship. Several notable players immediately lost value compared to the previous estimate.

The biggest drawdown occurred in two big clubs – Spartak and Zenit. And if the drop in prices for the leaders of the “red-whites” can be explained by not the best results of the team and personal regression, then in the case of the Zenit team, separate explanations are required.

Shares of Spartak Russians rushed down

One of the main qualities of any coach is the ability to develop the best qualities of players. For example, the arrival of Vladimir Ivich to Krasnodar significantly increased the total capitalization of the squad in just a year. In recent months alone, the total increase in the price of the entire roster amounted to almost 10 million euros. But there are questions for Guillermo Abascal in this regard.

In the summer, Spartak was purchased for 24 million euros, and the overall balance of expenses and income went into a decent minus (-20 million), but at the same time, in terms of the total cost, the team composition at the end of the calendar year is still lower than at the beginning. Particularly impressive has been the price decline for Russian players over the past few months.

The cheapest Russians:

· Georgy Dzhikia (Spartak) – €1.5 million (price €5 million)

· Alexander Sobolev (Spartak) – €1 million (price €8 million)

· Roman Zobnin (Spartak) – €1 million (price €5 million)

· Alexander Selikhov (“Spartak”) – €1 million (price €2 million)

· Vyacheslav Karavaev (Zenit) – €1 million (price €5 million)

· Mario Fernandez (Zenit) – €1 million (price €2 million)

· Danila Prokhin (Rostov) – €1 million (price €2 million)

· Roman Tugarev (Rostov) – €0.6 (price €0.9 million)

· Konstantin Maradishvili (Lokomotiv) – €0.6 (price €1.2 million)

The leader of the sad list, Dzhikia, lost his place in the main team of Spartak under Abaskal. Here you should not look for a conspiracy or any bias on the part of the Spaniard. The captain of the “red-and-whites” has really slowed down noticeably over the past year and started making more mistakes, so his move to the bench and the drop in price are an objective reflection of the level of play of the 30-year-old defender.

The most important criterion when determining the value of any player is his age. Starting from the age of 27-28, a significant increase rarely occurs, but only a few manage to avoid a decrease. Therefore, Igor Akinfeev, at 37 years old, is worth only 1.5 million euros. According to the results of the first part of the season, the army captain became cheaper by a quarter of his previous cost. Akinfeev’s much younger colleague lost even more: 29-year-old Selikhov this season lost his status as the team’s number one, and with it a third of the market price.

Alexander Sobolev / Photo: © Denis Bushkovsky / Match TV

The decrease in the price for Sobolev can be explained by the forward’s weak performance: after all, three goals in 15 RPL matches is a weak result for a player of his level. And Alexander’s shares were probably affected by being placed in reserve for a long time. It is obvious that Sobolev has passed his price peak: it is almost impossible to return to the value of 11 million euros, which was recorded at the end of the 2020/21 season.

The same assumption can be applied to Roman Zobnin, who after the 2018 World Cup was valued at 14 million euros, and now he costs almost three times less. The approach to the 30th birthday and the level of the midfielder’s play have an impact here. He certainly doesn’t look like a difference-maker in recent years.

Konstantin Maradishvili / Photo: © Denis Bushkovsky / Match TV

If Spartak, even losing in price, still remain quite expensive players by Russian standards, then Konstantin Maradishvili has a completely different story. Lokomotiv bought this midfielder from CSKA for 7 million euros. Even then, such a cost looked very inadequate. Now the price tag for the midfielder, who rarely appears on the field, is only €1.2 million. Loko is trying to get rid of Maradishvili and is ready to exchange him for Paris NN defensive midfielder Maiga, whom Transfermarkt values ​​even cheaper (€1 million).

Zenit’s squad has fallen in price more than others

In terms of squad cost, no Russian club can compete with Zenit. True, if last season the superiority of St. Petersburg over their closest competitor was measured by a colossal handicap of 82 million euros, now the gap has been reduced by almost half. Krasnodar, which after price updates took second place in terms of squad cost, is not so much inferior to Zenit: 100 million versus 144 million.

Douglas Santos / Photo: © Mikhail Zimin / Match TV

These changes were facilitated by two factors: a serious price boost for the “bulls” (+€10 million recently) and a significant drawdown for the “blue-white-blues” (-€10 million). In the fall, almost all the foreign leaders of the champion team, with the exception of Cassierra, who had become overwhelmed, noticeably dropped in price.

The cheapest foreigners:

· Douglas Santos (Zenit) – €3 million (price €15 million)

· Wendel (Zenit) – €2 million (price €22 million)

· Claudinho (Zenit) – €2 million (price €18 million)

· Vilmar Barrios (Zenit) – €2 million (price €14 million)

· Do Queiroz (Zenit) – €2 million (price €3 million)

· Jesus Medina (Spartak) – €1 million (price €5 million)

· Wilson Isidore (Zenit) – €0.5 million (price €4.5 million)

· Tomas Tavares (Spartak) – €0.5 million (price €2.5 million)

· Victor Moses (Spartak) – €0.5 million (price €1.5 million)

· Miroslav Bogosavats (“Akhmat”) – €0.5 million (price €2.5 million)

In the Zenit story, the drop in player prices is a combination of several factors. Unlike recent seasons, the team does not dominate the championship, although this is not the main reason. In previous years, prices for Zenit stars reached maximum values, which are impossible to maintain or increase under the conditions of the European Cup ban. Due to their performances only in the RPL, it is difficult for Wendel and Claudinho to expect an increase in price.

The cheapest Zenit player is Douglas Santos. Among other things, his age “helped” him to fall in price: at the beginning of spring, the full-back will turn 30 years old. In such a situation, a price drop is a common story.

At the same time, the four Zenit players who have fallen in price still remain among the most expensive players in the championship. New data from Transfermarkt is a hint to Zenit management. If it wants to make money on the transfers of its leaders, then it needs to sell them as soon as possible. With the money raised, it will be possible to purchase younger and more victory-hungry South Americans.