In the first decade of the 21st century, Russian football clubs were more active than ever in the transfer market. The composition of the teams on a regular basis was replenished by foreign football players, which was facilitated by both the lack of a limit on legionnaires and the solid expenses of club owners and sponsors. Nevertheless, few players managed to really surprise the experts and fans, become the stars of the national championship and hold out at a given level for several seasons. This is especially true for those whose value did not exceed € 5 million at the current exchange rate.
Yugoslav market
In the 2000s, football players from the former Yugoslavia were especially popular with domestic clubs. However, many of them fell to the court due to the similarity of mentality. First of all, this refers to Branislav Ivanovich and Emir Spakhich, former partners in the Moscow Lokomotiv. Both not only held bright segments in the championship of Russia, but subsequently successfully performed in large European teams.
At the same time, Spakhich was the first to come to the RPL. In January 2004, the Bosnian changed “Zagreb” to “Shinnik”, and the transfer amount was only € 450 thousand (according to Transfermarkt). Given the fact that after a year and a half the Yaroslavl sold the defender almost four times more expensive at Torpedo (€ 1.65 million), the deal could certainly be considered successful. The hard work and confident game of Emir was so captivating that only six months later he again went on to increase and replenished the composition of Lokomotiv. There he took the bronze of the championship and the Cup of the country.
Spakhich played for Lokomotiv until the spring of 2009, when he left the camp of red-green with a scandal. Due to the complex nature, expressed in regular misconduct and conflicts with partners, the club decided to break the contract with the Bosnian. However, this did not stop him from playing in the future for the French Montpellier, the German Bayer and Hamburg, as well as the Spanish Sevilla.
As for Branislav, his purchase cost Lokomotiv much cheaper. “Belgrade” received only € 1 million for a promising defender and clearly cheapened. In just two seasons, Ivanovich added so much that he impressed Chelsea scouts. The London club agreed to pay € 12 million for it. As it turned out, Roman Abramovich and the company did not fail. Serb spent nine successful years in the UK capital, during which he took nine trophies, including the Champions League and the Europa League.
To argue with Ivanovich on the number of awards can another Serbian defender, who moved to the RPL in the mid-2000s. Moreover, initially the transfer of Nemanja Vidic from “Red Star” to “Spartak” was considered controversial. The Serbs were considered rather traumatic and were afraid that regular injuries would prevent him from opening up in Moscow. But everything turned out more than successfully, and only a year and a half after arriving in Russia, he went to conquer Misty Albion.
Manchester United paid € 10.5 million for Vidic’s transfer, as a result of which Spartak’s net profit amounted to just over € 6 million. The silver medalist of the Russian championship remained in solid plus, and the Serb became one of the most successful players who ever played in the submarine. For eight years, in the “red devils” he acquired 15 titles, including the Champions League Cup. It is all the more remarkable that in the final, Manchester United defeated Chelsea, and the meeting took place in Moscow at the Luzhniki stadium.
Unlike their compatriots, the main successes in the career of Milos Krasic are connected precisely with Russia. The reactive midfielder cost CSKA € 2.25 million, but fully fulfilled the trust placed in him. He spent six years in the army team and helped him win 11 trophies, and he was twice recognized as the best right midfielder of the championship according to the RFU.
In light of this, his move to Juventus for € 15 million seemed more than logical. But unlike Ivanovich and Vidich, he could not demonstrate his best qualities in a highly competitive environment. For two seasons, he spent 50 matches, scored ten goals and gave nine assists, but they were expecting more from the Serb.
Latin American and South European Markets
Only guests from Latin America can compete with the Yugoslavs in the RPL. In Russia, football players from Brazil were always well treated, but over the years they began to attract recruits from other countries. Of course, domestic clubs could not get past the homeland of Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi. But if the purchase of Fernando Cavenagi can hardly be considered successful, then the transfer of Alejandro Dominguez is worthy of the most flattering epithets.
In 2004, the Chori transition from River Plate cost Rubin only € 1.5 million, but paid off 100%. Over the first two years, he made such an impression on fans and experts that he replaced Kazan with St. Petersburg, while his transfer value during this time increased almost five times. Yes, at Zenit he was not able to shine as brightly, but it was here that he took most of his trophies. For two years, he won the championship and the Russian Cup, the UEFA Cup and the European Super Cup, after which he returned to the capital of Tatarstan.
In his last year at the RPL, he not only helped Rubin win the Russian championship, but also won a legendary victory over Barcelona at Camp Nou. For his services, the Argentine was awarded the title of best foreign player in the league, and then went to conquer Spain. Valencia was very generous and paid € 14 million for the attacking midfielder.
In addition to Dominguez, Rubin opened several more players from South America, and Christian Noboa can be considered the most striking of them. In 2007, buying an Ecuadorian from Emelek cost only € 1.5 million, but in a short time he managed to become one of the team leaders and helped her to become the country's champion twice. Creative midfielder came to the court in the RPL and is still playing in Russia. During this time, he managed to play for Dynamo, Rostov, Zenit and Sochi, and almost everywhere he played the leading roles.
As for the Brazilians, in the RPL in the 2000s there were many great performers from this country, but only some of them can be called full-fledged discoveries. One of the most striking examples is Jo, who immediately became one of the league’s best forwards and subsequently for ten years remained a record “exit” transfer for CSKA. For two years, the striker accumulated 47 goals in 80 meetings and went to Manchester City for € 24 million. Considering that it cost almost five times cheaper with red-blue, the deal can be considered more than successful.
Unlike Jo, Guillerme not only made a name for himself in the RPL, but also decided to connect his life with Russia. Marinato ended up at Lokomotiv 13 years ago and in the first two seasons did not play a single match for the team, but subsequently became a solid first number not only in the club, but also in the national team. In 2015, he received a Russian passport and has since been regularly called up to the national team. Thus, although he was not able to compensate for the € 1.5 million invested in him through the sale, he brought more than enough benefit. After all, with his direct participation, railroad workers became the country's champions for the first time in 14 years.
Along with Dominguez and Jo, one of the most prominent legionnaires in the history of the RPL can be called Miguel Danny. The midfielder arrived at Dynamo in 2005 as part of the impressive Portuguese diaspora, but unlike his compatriots, he really blossomed in Russia. He played in the RPL for 12 years and during this time he won eight trophies. Although all of them were mined as part of the Zenith, the blue and white are unlikely to remain in the loser. At least financially, because ten times more was earned for it than they paid themselves (€ 3 million).
Czechoslovak market
Currently, football fans know Zenit from the expensive acquisitions of Hulk, Axel Witsel and Malcolm, but in the early 2000s, Petersburgers often invited quality players for little money. Moreover, they worked especially well in the Czechoslovak direction, which is due to the long stay as head coach of Vlastimil Petrzhela.
It was during this period that Martin Skrtel and Kamil Chontofalski joined the team, who were destined to become one of the important links of blue-white-blue. It should be noted that the defender cost only € 300 thousand, and the goalkeeper - € 450 thousand.
But if Chontofalski was not lucky to become a competitor to the former goalkeeper of the Russian national team Vyacheslav Malafeev, then Skrtel quickly became the leader of defense. For four years at Zenit, he spent 111 matches, after which he went on promotion to Liverpool. The transfer cost € 10 million and became one of the most successful in the club’s history. However, in the Premier League, the Slovak won only the English League Cup, after which he went to play in Turkey.
Unlike Zenit, Spartak invested significantly more serious funds in the acquisition of the Czechs Kovacs and Jiranek, but in return received solid base players for many years. Radoslav defended the colors of red and white for four years, and Martin - six, during which he even tried on a captain's armband.
Together, the Czech duet helped the team win the RPL silver medals three times, and in 2009, Jiranek repeated this result in the absence of his compatriot. Thus, both worked out a total of € 7.3 million invested in them. It is noteworthy that both went to England from the red-white camp, but they could not achieve serious success there. Martin did not take root at Birmingham, and Radoslav did not take root at West Ham.