Forward “Zenith” and the Russian national team Artyom Dziuba fell into the sphere of interests of the Italian club “Lazio”. According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, a Roman club is following the player and may offer him to sign a contract this summer.
Before the break, because of the coronavirus pandemic, Lazio was in second place in the Italian championship, behind only one point behind the leading Juventus. The Romans seriously pretend to play in the group stage of the Champions League for the first time in 13 years next season. Local media have repeatedly written that the club will need reinforcement in this regard, and therefore the leadership of the team is considering Dzyuba's candidacy.
Now Lazio has an unchallenged leader at the forefront - Ciro Immobile, who scored 27 goals in 26 Series A games this season. Dziuba could play the role of his successor, who is now the ex-forward of the Moscow “Locomotive” Felipe Caicedo. The Ecuadorian is still doing pretty well with her, having eight goals in the Italian championship. However, it cannot be ruled out that Dziuba is considered to replace the Immobile. According to the latest data, Napoli and Everton are claiming a driven Italian, although Lazio does not intend to sell it cheaper than for € 80 million.
One of the advantages of Dziuba, which La Gazzetta dello Sport drew attention to, is its high growth and its outstanding physical data, which of the attackers no one in Lazio has anymore. For this, the Russians were compared with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who is now playing in Milan. At the same time, as the last two seasons at Zenit have shown, Dziuba not only plays in the position of a pure center forward, but can also create moments for partners and bring the ball to the box. Now the role of the projectile carrier for Immobile is played by Luis Alberto, with whom Juba may also have to compete for attention from Lazio head coach Simone Inzaghi.
At the same time, the Italian media did not forget to tell that Dziuba is a difficult football player by nature and was in conflict with the current head coach of the Italian team Roberto Mancini when he worked at Zenit. Their misunderstanding led to the fact that the 2017/2018 season Dziuba played out in the Tula Arsenal, in which he proved his right to participate in the home world championship, and Mancini was fired for unsatisfactory results.
In addition to Dziuba, Lazio is also interested in a number of other players. Among the possible competitors, the Russian La Gazzetta dello Sport mentions Chelsea players Olivier Giroud and Pedro Rodriguez, although the latter plays in a completely different position.
News about Dziuba in Italy is accompanied by a clarification that “Lazio” was recommended by an influential agent, Jorge Mendes, who leads the affairs of Cristiano Ronaldo and other football stars. This may be a sign that the interest of the Romans in the Russian striker really exists and is not a guess of the journalists. In winter, Juba called for Tottenham head coach Jose Mourinho, who is also a client of Mendes. The transfer, according to media reports, did not take place due to Zenit’s position and the player’s reluctance to change the club immediately before Euro 2020. Now that the European Championship has been moved forward a year, Dziuba will have enough time to get comfortable in a new place, if he still wants to try his hand in the foreign league.
Dziuba’s contract with Zenit ends this summer, and so far both sides have not announced an extension of the agreement. It cannot be ruled out that talking about the departure of the main star of the St. Petersburg club will make negotiations more productive, and then the option of moving to Italy for Dzyuba will disappear. At the moment, he has everything at Zenit that a football player can dream about - the status of a team leader, constant playing practice, an almost won national title and the opportunity to play in the Champions League, as well as constant communication with the head coach of the Russian team Stanislav Cherchesov. However, now Zenit is not negotiating with the players about the extension of contracts due to the uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic, said Zenit CEO Alexander Medvedev.
“Until that time until the date of the resumption of the Russian championship is announced, Zenit has not conducted negotiations with anybody on the extension of the contracts and will not conduct it. We understand with whom we want to finish the championship, if it goes on June 30th. The time intervals of transfer windows have not yet been determined, whether there will be two or three windows. So we are now on standby, ”Medvedev quotes Sport Express.
The lack of clear prospects for the extension of the contract may push Dziuba to decisive action. However, according to Russian football agent Alexei Safonov, he is unlikely to be able to radically change his career. He considers it unlikely that not only the transfer of the Russian striker to Lazio, but also that he would have managed to play in Italy.
"Lazio" Dziuba is not suitable for the style of the game. I would still believe about England and Spain, but not about Italy. Look, what are the defenders in Italy, where most of the games end with zero results. Moreover, there is now a pandemic and panic, almost all cases have froze. I think that his train is long gone. I think Artyom’s finances are in the first place now, and considering what taxation in Italy is at 50% or more, no one will give him that kind of money. In addition, the European Championship is at hand, but what if it doesn’t make it? Dziuba will not take such a risk, ”Safonov told the Championship.