Football

The price has risen 35 times in a year and a half! There is a new leader in the ranking of the most expensive football players in Russia

Published

6 days ago

December 17, 2025

Thomas

The price has risen 35 times in a year and a half! There is a new leader in the ranking of the most expensive football players in Russia

Alexey Batrakov / Photo: © FC Lokomotiv

The two most promising Russian players have increased in value again.

In December, the Transfermarkt portal traditionally recalculates the market value of players in various leagues, including the RPL. After a fresh update of prices, the top two lines among Russians are occupied by two 20-year-old midfielders – railway worker Alexey Batrakov and army player Matvey Kislyak.

Golovin is now only the third most valuable

For several years, the top line of the ranking of the most expensive Russian players was held by Alexander Golovin, whose peak price reached 30 million euros. For this amount he was bought by Monaco in 2018. Over the past year, the 29-year-old midfielder has managed to drop his price by 12 million and let two of his national team teammates go ahead. The drop in Golovin’s price is primarily explained by his age – as the age of 30 approaches, the price decreases for the vast majority of football players around the world.

Alexander Golovin / Photo: © Francesco Scaccianoce / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

Also over the year, the value of Matvey Safonov has noticeably decreased – from 22 million to 15 million. This trend has another explanation – too long a stay in the PSG reserves. But another Russian goalkeeper, who recently played with Safonov in the same club, on the contrary, has risen in price significantly over the same period. Stanislav Agkatsev has increased in price from December 2024 from 3.5 to 10 million and became one of nine Russian players in the “10+ million” price category.

The most expensive Russian players (according to Transfermarkt)

1. Alexey Batrakov (Lokomotiv) – €25 million

2. Matvey Kislyak (CSKA) – €20 million

3. Alexander Golovin (Monaco) – €18 million

4-5. Matvey Safonov (PSG) – €15 million

4-5. Konstantin Tyukavin (Dynamo) – €15 million

6. Maxim Glushenkov (“Zenit”) – €14 million

7-9. Stanislav Agkatsev (Krasnodar) – €10 million

7-9. Sergei Pinyaev (Lokomotiv) – €10 million

7-9. Ivan Oblyakov (CSKA) – €10 million

If we take the RPL separately, then here too Batrakov is at the top, sharing first place with Eduard Spertsyan. Over the past six months, the price for the leader of Krasnodar has been in a static position. It can be assumed that within the framework of the Russian championship it has already reached its peak.

Eduard Spertsyan / Photo: © FC Krasnodar

Zenit has the largest representation in the ranking of the most expensive football players. The St. Petersburgers remain the leaders of the league in terms of the total cost of the roster (€174.9 million), Spartak is in second place (€131.5 million), and Krasnodar (€125.7 million) closes the top three. Three more Moscow clubs have approximately the same level of composition, based on its price: Lokomotiv – 111.9 million, CSKA – 102.7 million, Dynamo – 102.1. Rubin, which is seventh on this list, is already significantly behind the leaders (49.6 million).

The most expensive RPL players:

1-2. Alexey Batrakov (Lokomotiv) – €25 million

1-2. Eduard Spertsyan (Krasnodar) – €25 million

3. Luis Enrique (Zenit) – €24 million

4. Matvey Kislyak (CSKA) – €20 million

5-6. Zhedson (Spartak) – €18 million

5-6. Gerson (Zenit) – €18 million

7-9. Konstantin Tyukavin (Dynamo) – €15 million

7-9. Wendel (Zenit) – €15 million

7-9. Pedro (Zenit) – €15 million

10-12. Ezequiel Barco (Spartak) – €14 million

10-12. Maxim Glushenkov (Zenit) – €14 million

10-12. Manfred Ugalde (Spartak) – €14 million

Who has enough money for Kislyak and Batrakov?

Players whose prices have increased by at least two million over the past few months deserve special mention. This indicator is an important indicator of the progress of football players. A total of eight players fell into this category. Kislyak has risen in price more than the others in absolute terms – by four million euros. The increase in the price of the army guy is especially impressive if we take the period over the last year and a half. During this time, its value increased 40 times.

Matvey Kislyak / Photo: © Dmitry Chelyapin / Match TV

How Kislyak rose in price in a year and a half:

June-2024: €0.5 million

September-2024: €0.7 million

December-2024: €1.2 million

March-2025: €4 million

June-2025: €8 million

September-2025: €16 million

December-2025: €20 million

In second place in terms of cost increase are Zenit player Pedro and another army player, Kirill Glebov, whose price has increased by three million. The price of Petrakov, as well as Glushenkov, Agkatsev, Batchi and Diego Costa, went up by two million. Batrakov’s growth dynamics are no less impressive than Kislyak’s. Just a year and a half ago it did not exceed a million euros and has since increased 35 times.

Photo: © Dmitry Chelyapin / Match TV

How did Batrakov rise in price in a year and a half?

June-2024: €0.7 million
September-2024: €5 million
December-2024: €8 million
March-2025: €9 million
June-2025: €12 million
September-2025: €23 million
December-2025: €25 million

The rapid increase in the prices of the two most promising Russians provokes questions about their near future. Many European clubs are closely following Batrakov, and the names of some of them have already appeared in the press – Barcelona, Man City, Inter and others. But the path from getting on the shortlist to a specific proposal may turn out to be too long. There are few clubs in Europe willing to shell out serious money for players without experience in big championships. Over the past few years, only one transaction of this level has been carried out on the RPL route – a top club, when PSG paid Krasnodar 20 million for Safonov. Problems with transfers of funds to Russia can also become a significant obstacle to a future transfer.

The desire of some fans to see the same Batrakov or Kislyak in the surroundings of the top leagues is quite understandable, and in terms of their potential, both 20-year-old guys seem capable of truly setting things on fire in Europe. On the other hand, with their departure, the RPL will lose some of its most prominent representatives. Therefore, while there is an opportunity to enjoy their play in Russia, we must take advantage of it.

Watch live broadcasts of MIR RPL matches on the Match TV and MATCH PREMIER TV channels, as well as on the websites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.

Source: Sportbox

Thomas

Thomas Astudillo is a sports journalist and author who writes for Sportish. He has a deep love and knowledge of sports, and is known for his engaging and informative writing on the latest sports news and events.

Football

Talalaev said he is against the sale of any Baltika players

Published

48 minutes ago

December 23, 2025

Jon

Talalaev said he is against the sale of any Baltika players

Head coach of the Kaliningrad football club “Baltika” Andrei Talalaev will be against the sale of any player from his team. Talalaev spoke about it to Sport Express.

Formerly agent of defender Baltika Vladislava Sausya Andrei Talaev allowed the footballer to leave Baltika this winter.

“In principle, I am against selling any of my players,” Talalaev said. “But at the same time, I’m not a supporter of discussing relocation plans in the press. So this is all someone’s speculation.”

After the first part of the season in the World Cup – Russian Premier League, Baltika is in fifth place in the table, having scored 35 points in 18 matches. The roster of the Kaliningrad club is one of the cheapest in the national championship.

Source: Soccer Ru

Jon

I’m a sports enthusiast and journalist who has worked in the news industry for over 8 years. I currently work as an author at Sportish and my work focuses mainly on sports news.

World Cup

Pochettino: The US will have confidence in themselves, otherwise it will not be easy to leave the group

Published

50 minutes ago

December 23, 2025

Thomas

Pochettino: The US will have confidence in themselves, otherwise it will not be easy to leave the group

Head coach of the US national team Mauricio Pochettino announced the results of the draw for the 2026 World Cup. Yogo words cause FOX.

“It’s amazing what we will achieve in six months. We recently played with Paraguay and Australia, and we even have new knowledge.”

Then the team from Europe will be even stronger in this group. We must be optimists, continue to struggle and develop. Now we can only analyze the commands and see what will happen in a few months.

We can respect all superniks. Everything won’t be easy. We know that Paraguay performed very well in the American selection tournament. Until we played them, Australia hadn’t lost in 12 or 13 games.

It’s great that the team arrives before us. Despite all my efforts, we believe we can go far. “It won’t be easy for us,” Pochettino said.

The US is in the same group with Paraguay, Australia and Turkey/Romania/Slovakia/Kosovo.

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Publication by Football.ua (@football.ua.ua)

Source: Football UA

Thomas

World Cup

Liverpool announced Isak’s official diagnosis. Will he play against Ukraine?

Published

1 hour ago

December 23, 2025

Kyle

Liverpool announced Isak’s official diagnosis. Will he play against Ukraine?

In the 17th round of the English Premier League, England Liverpool and Sweden national team forward Alexander Isak was injured in the match against Tottenham (1:2).

According to the club’s press service, the Swedish striker was diagnosed with a fibula fracture. The football player had undergone surgery before. There is no official information about the timing of Isaac’s recovery, but the media writes that the football player will be out of action for several months.

The Reds play on behalf of the Swedish national team, which will be the rival of the Ukrainian national team in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. The team match will be held on March 26, 2026.

View this post on Instagram

Posted by Liverpool Football Club (@liverpoolfc)

Source: Sport UA

Kyle

I am a writer at Sportish, where I mainly cover sports news. I’ve also written for The Guardian and ESPN Brasil, and my work has been featured on NBC Sports, SI.com and more. Before working in journalism, I was an athlete: I played football for Colgate University and competed in the US Open Cross Country Championships.