Colombian “destroyer”, Ukrainian defender and star from Iran: how “Zenith” strengthened for the Europa League in the offseason

The most impressive transfer campaign of the current winter off-season in the RPL was held by Zenit. Of course, the fans will also remember the interesting acquisitions of Spartak, which in turn distributed players to the Wings of the Soviets and Rostov. But it was Petersburgers who spent more actively than other teams and got the most solid, at least on paper, gain by the second half of the season. And it will start earlier than other Russian clubs - on February 12, the 1/16 Europa League match with Fenerbahce will take place.

The main money supply to Zenit was brought by the sale of Leandro Paredes in PSG for € 47 million. His care can be assessed in two ways. It has been noted more than once that if St. Petersburgers gave their player profitably, then problems arose in his position. This was the case with the Hulk, Axel Witsel and Esequiel Garay. Paredes was a great performer of standards and a raspasovshchik capable of starting an attack with one gear from his own half of the field.

At the same time, the Argentinian often deserved criticism for having devoted little time to defense, despite the fact that Sergei Semak saw him as a defender in the first place. In conjunction with Christian Noboa, Paredes has not yet raised questions, but quite early the Ecuadorian was seriously injured. The Argentine had to either alone or with someone else to show their defensive qualities, and they were not up to par. Fans could even accuse him of being lazy because of the reluctance to fight for the ball that escapes behind the back.

In the last days before the transfer window was closed, Colombian Wilmar Barrios, who played in Boca Juniors, came to the place of Paredes. However, the 24-year-old opornika can not be called an exact copy of the Argentine living in Paris. Formally, they share one position on the field, but at the same time Barrios focuses precisely on defense. His strength is the breakdown of other people's attacks, and he is equally good in interceptions and selection. The Colombian does not hesitate to foul, and in this regard reminds Pontus Vernbloom, who has become in some way a legend of CSKA.

But on matches in the championship of Argentina, you can see that Barrios has one significant disadvantage. In comparison with Paredes, he does not shine with attacking actions. Colombian only destroys the game of the opponent, but does not complement the offensive of his team. Two Latinos would be well able to look in a bundle, but it will not. So Barrios will have to look for a new partner in Zenit, who will play for him with the ball. It is possible that there will be two of them at once - a Colombian was revealed at Boca Juniors when playing under the 4-3-3 scheme. There is no shortage of creative flank midfielders in Zenit, so Barrios will only have to give them a pass after the next attack of the enemy.

This suggests a transition to a new scheme, but completely different, and because of the arrival of Yaroslav Rakitsky. Paradoxically, his attacking qualities can even be assessed better than in Barrios. The Ukrainian defender, who played all his life for Shakhtar Donetsk, is famous for its long Paz, with both legs. Zenit has many good performers in its position: Branislav Ivanovich, Emanuel Mamman, Miha Mevlya, Luis Neto. But no one among them is distinguished by such a field vision as Rakitsky.

🤝 # RakitskyVZenite porn.twitter.com / jxEu4zXFY1

The Ukrainian footballer can even be considered a good executor of standards - he has experience of filing from the corners and penalties, which is rather atypical for the central defender. In Rakitskiy also bribes age. He is not yet 30 years old, and even the line is not critical for the central defender.

Sergei Semak has acquired a kind of joker in defense, which at a critical moment can confuse the opponent's cards. It’s not a fact that Rakytskyy will get 100% time on the field - for that, it would be good for him to have two partners in the center of defense, which is a rather unusual arrangement for Zenit. But it will be even more interesting to observe how the Ukrainian footballer will take root in the RPL.

Another sensational transfer of "Zenith" occurred on the first day of February. The club has long established ties with Rubin, and this time Serdar Azmun arrived from Kazan to St. Petersburg. The Iranian striker does not need to be represented for a long time - he is well known to the Russian fans for work in the team of Kurban Berdiyev, where he has always been assigned the role of chief scorer.

Bonus! 🎁 pic.twitter.com/rS6ynFI0K2

24-year-old striker this season coped with it quite well. In the RPL, he scored four goals and gave four assists - on the “goal + pass” system, Azmun shared the fifth place with a new team-mate Alexander Erokhin and Sergey Tkachev from Arsenal. During the winter break, the form of the Iranian is not exactly worsened. He took part in the Asian Cup and scored four goals, sharing the second place in the list of scorers.

In the transfer of the Ammuna, only one moment is alarming - now he will not be considered the first number in the team, to which he had long been accustomed to Rubin, Rostov and the national team. Competition for a place in the composition will be huge - Artem Dzyuba, Anton Zabolotny and Sebastian Driussi did not leave anywhere. Nobody canceled the limit on foreign players either, and he, too, will seriously influence the playing time of Amune. Therefore, it is still difficult to assess the prospects of the new forward Zenit. He can both bloom in a new team, if he has absolute coaching confidence, and wither and quickly return to Kazan, as Dmitry Poloz has already done. Zenit made a cheap purchase - in the order of € 15 million - and now must properly dispose of it.

We should also mention one more player who could influence the game of Zenit in the second half of the season. On February 8, the forward of Alexander Kokorin’s arrest expires, but two days before the Tverskoy court of Moscow will consider another petition of the investigation, which wants to extend the term of the football player’s arrest for another two months.

It is hardly worth saying that Kokorin will seriously strengthen the game of Zenit in the near future. His potential return to the team is likely to cheer up his partners, who were already waiting for their teammate. The inclusion of a striker in the Zenit bid for the Europa League is also symbolic.

Meanwhile, Emiliano Rigoni returned to Zenit. The last six months he spent in the Italian Atlanta, but did not succeed in Serie A and returned to Russia ahead of schedule. The prospects of the Argentine in St. Petersburg will again be vague, as in the summer - then Sergei Semak did not know where to attach the football player he had bought with Roberto Mancini, and now he explicitly stated that he did not find a role for him. Perhaps, in another Russian club, Rigoni would become a star and would be in demand, provided full dedication. But for Zenit, his return does not mean anything at all.

Summing up the activities of St. Petersburgers in the transfer market, it can be argued that they did not sit idly - instead of one problem player, Zenit acquired three very promising players with pronounced strengths. Together, they can change the pattern of the game "Zenith", which ended the autumn part of the season rather mediocre, as if in a dead end. But still, the club from the banks of the Neva still has leadership in the RPL standings and a chance to move forward in the Europa League grid. Under these goals, new players were purchased.