Stimulus for development: why budget cuts could benefit Russian football

In the near future, Russian football runs the risk of facing serious problems caused by lower funding levels. The economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic and the fall in oil prices may affect the welfare of clubs, and, accordingly, their ability to attract high-class players. In the event of such a development of events, the leaders of most teams will now have to not only save on signing contracts with the stars, but also generally limit their spending on acquiring footballers.

This opinion is shared by the defender of the Moscow Spartak and the Russian team, George Dzhikia. According to him, in the event of a decrease in RPL wages, an outflow of legionnaires awaits, which will affect the quality of football.

“I said that our level fell slightly compared to what it was three to four years ago. And if in this situation foreign footballers begin to leave Russia, then, of course, the level will still fall, ”Jikia said on the air of the Russia 24 television channel.

It is difficult to disagree with the opinion of the player of the national team. The RPL is not one of the most prestigious leagues, and therefore foreign players rarely consider it as a priority place to pursue a career. Most young players try either to break into one of the top European tournaments right away or to enter the league recognized as a talent forge.

If earlier the Dutch Eredivisi and the Portuguese Primera had this status, recently the Belgian Pro-League and the Austrian Bundesliga have joined them. It’s enough to recall the transfer of striker Wesley from Brugge to Aston Villa for € 25 million or Erling Holland from Salzburg to Dortmund Borussia for € 20 million. In connection with this, the Russian teams had to pay significantly in order to arrange a transfer with budding footballers and their inner circle.

The deteriorating financial situation in the RPL will make it much harder for clubs to negotiate with foreign players. And this, in turn, will affect their numbers. And this applies not only to future transfers, but also to renegotiation of contracts. Agreements with Maciej Rybus, Manuel Fernandes, Branislav Ivanovich, Eric Bikfalvi and Ari expire in the summer, which may refuse to renew them.

Given the current state of affairs, there is every reason to believe that Lokomotiv, Krasnodar, Zenit and Ural will probably not be able to offer the same conditions as before and will ask the players to agree to a lower salary. This may well not suit the players, after which the RPL may lose five professionals.

As Jikia said, such a scenario will adversely affect the RPL level, and, consequently, the performance of its representatives in European competitions. In the absence of quality legionnaires, it will be even more difficult for Russian clubs to compete with leading teams of foreign leagues, which will lead to a fall in the UEFA ranking. As a result of the failure in the 2019/20 season, the Russian Federation has already passed Portugal forward, and subsequent failures may allow it to rise above Belgium and the Netherlands.

Problems with finances can lead to the fact that the RPL will partly resemble the Ukrainian Premier League, where there are two grands (Donetsk Shakhtar and Kiev Dynamo) and all the rest. In Russia, the situation is not so catastrophic, so there may be four to five top teams and all the strongest players will be concentrated in them, and the rest of the clubs will be forced to part with their local stars due to modest financial opportunities. Thus, the gap between leaders and outsiders will widen.

Nevertheless, a decrease in funding for Russian clubs may be a plus for the development of domestic football in general. Salary cuts will force not only foreign players, but also young domestic players to leave the country. Of course, the most talented of them will have the opportunity to go to top clubs and continue to receive high salaries, but less cool players will face the choice - to earn modest money in the middle teams of the RPL or try their hand abroad.

It is possible that many young Russians will prefer to try their hand at the championships of the second echelon, then to pursue a career in one of the European top championships or return to their homeland, but already as a player in the starting lineup.

More recently, Vyacheslav Karavaev and Nikolai Komlichenko managed to do this, who, with outstanding performances abroad, deserved proposals from Zenit and Dynamo, respectively. Some have already been inspired by their example, and if the budgets of RPL clubs are reduced, their number may increase dramatically.

At the moment, this happens all in the same UPL, where players at an early age prefer to go to other championships. And often they agree to move not to the leading leagues of the Old World, but to less status ones. So, the talented midfielder Ruslan Malinovsky, after several seasons at Genk, moved to Atalanta, Eduard Sobol, Roman Yaremchuk and Evgeni Makarenko stand for the Belgian Bruges, Gent and Kortrijk, and Vasily Kravits for the modest Spanish “ Lugo. " Over the past year, one and a half dozen football players playing in various European championships have been involved in the Ukrainian team.

Changing the vector of development of the national league may also force Russian star players to leave the country. Not only because of lower salaries, but also because of falling competition. If earlier they could perform alongside such masters as Grzegorz Krychowiak, Nikola Vlašić, João Mariu, Malkom, then in the future (if things are bad) they will be able to count on this exclusively abroad.

At the moment, high salaries in the RPL are forcing Russians to selectively approach offers from abroad. It is believed that they should consider proposals from either giants or clubs regularly performing in European competitions. In this regard, the list of possible applicants is greatly narrowed, and players often remain at home.

A fresh example of Fedor Chalov, who was discouraged from transferring to Crystal Palace. Of course, with the current results, the forward prospects in the Premier League seem more than vague, especially in the presence of Jordan Ayu, Jenk Tosun and Wilfrid Zaa. However, it should not be ruled out that the decline in morale of the best RPL scorer of the 2018/19 season was caused precisely by the fact that CSKA President Evgeny Giner did not let him go, hoping to earn even more on the sale.

You can also recall Fyodor Smolov, who at one time refused to consider proposals from Lyon, Marseille and Bordeaux. And this despite the fact that, as of 2018, the teams were included in the elite of the French League 1, and Olympic played regularly in the Champions League. For comparison, one of the most striking mundial forwards of 2014, Memphis Depay, did not bother the move to the Stade de Lumiere. And this despite the fact that before that he defended the colors of Manchester United, and not of Krasnodar.

“Lyon”, “Marseille”, “Bordeaux” - I did not even speak. "Wolfsburg" was, "Gladbach," "West Ham." With the last option, he was stupid. A month of vacation, I was in Krasnodar, I had a sore muscle, and in England the championship is in full swing. I was afraid that I would leave and not play a match before the World Cup, ”Smolov said in an interview with the KraSava YouTube channel.

Thus, in the case of the described development of events, leading Russian players will face a dilemma. On the one hand, speaking for the leading RPL clubs, they will not experience problems in battles with the middle peasants and outsiders, whose number will increase markedly. But due to the lack of cool legionnaires, they will not be able to compete on equal terms with top teams in the Champions League. It is possible that this will make them take a fresh look at the prospect of moving to Europe.

The national team may benefit from this, whose players will regularly compete with representatives of the strongest leagues on the continent. The level of their game will inevitably grow, which will help the Russian team to be even more competitive in the international arena. This is confirmed by the example of Alexander Golovin, who made progress in Monaco in a relatively short time.

Of course, in case of departure to Europe there are certain reasons for excitement. So, the player may not break into the roster, may not find a common language with the coach and settle down tightly on the bench. But if no one is safe from difficulties in communicating with a mentor or from a sudden castling of the latter, then the first problem is very solvable. For this, football players should not immediately think about Real Madrid or Juventus, but consider options with the conditional Betis or Fiorentina. In such teams it will be much easier to get time on the field, while remaining in full view of the scouts.

As for the RPL, the championship runs the risk of losing most of its strong performers and sinking in the UEFA ranking. However, the departure of powerful legionnaires and the best of the Russians also has certain advantages. In such conditions, coaches will be forced to trust the young more, the number of which may increase markedly. Of course, the conditional Zenit, Lokomotiv and Spartak will continue to have certain resources to invite the best Russians and high-quality legionnaires, but they will also have to understaff their own pupils. In conditions of reduced competition, many of them can get the necessary practice and prove themselves, and some are doing it now.