Free agents and veterans with a name: who can strengthen Rubin after a possible cut in funding

Interest in Shatov amid rumors of budget cuts

Kazan "Rubin" last winter became one of the main newsmakers of the RPL. In December, the team had a new head coach Leonid Slutsky, and a contract with him was signed immediately for five years. The club was also active in the transfer market. The double champion of Russia was replenished by Ivan Ignatiev, Dmitry Tarasov, Oliver Abilgor, Pablo Santos, Soltmurad Bakaev, Darko Yevtich and Denis Makarov. Moreover, it is difficult to say that the bosses of the club spent a lot, since most of the expenses went to the forward of Krasnodar.

However, in the near future, Rubin, it seems, will have to learn to live in the strictest economy. This is due to a possible reduction in funding from the TAIF group of companies. According to media reports, the main sponsor of the team initially planned to allocate 2 billion rubles to Kazan for the 2020/21 season, but now this amount may decrease to 600 million. In the event of such a development, Rubin will have to forget about serious expenses for beginners and place a bet on free agents.

The first sign can be the former player of the Russian national team Oleg Shatov, who took part in the European and World Championships in the mid-2010s. According to media reports, in the off-season, the midfielder will move to Kazan as a free agent, since in June he ends a contract with Zenit, which has not been announced for an extension.

The 29-year-old footballer is certainly able to strengthen Slutsky’s team, with whom he is well aware of his work in the national team. Shatov is technical, has an excellent pass and thinks outside the box on the field. In addition, it is universal and can play in almost any position in midfield.

However, a serious drawback of a native of Nizhny Tagil is considered trauma. Over the past two seasons alone, due to various injuries, he missed more than 100 days, and in the spring stage of the current RPL, he did not take part in matches due to muscle problems. But in this situation, Kazan does not risk anything, because they will not have to pay for a football player.

Problems on the left flank of the defense and lack of opornik

At the moment, “Rubin”, despite an active winter campaign, staffed not so well. Firstly, seven football players are on a loan on a team and may leave Kazan in the summer. Secondly, the depth of the composition is poor and several positions clearly need to be strengthened.

First of all, we are talking about the left flank of defense. Slutsky has at his disposal Nikolai Poyarkov and Daniil Stepanov, who played a lot with his predecessor as Kazan head coach Roman Sharonov. However, the new coach decided to use Alexander Zuev, rented from Spartak, at this place, although he had never played in defense before, but usually went to the left flank of the attack. As a result, the pupil of Chertanovo looks good when connecting to attacks from the depths, but expectedly is not so convincing in his half of the field.

There are problems in the support zone. They should have decided with the arrival of Dmitry Tarasov, but the ex-midfielder of the Russian national team broke his leg at the training camp, and will return to duty only in May. Without it, the team lacked a destroyer in the base zone, and Vyacheslav Podberezkin, Igor Konovalov and newcomer Oliver Abilgor could not cope with these functions. Hence a large number of fast attacks of the opponent through the center of the field.

The purchase of Darko Yevtich, who does not show himself in any way as a playmaker, is not justified either. The same can be said about the most famous rookie of the team Ivan Ignatiev. The young striker has not yet fit into the game of Kazan. In a new place, he does not have the opportunity to break into free zones on an alien half of the field. Wards Slutsky often prefer to direct the ball into the box on horseback, but the striker, who does not have outstanding anthropometric data, hardly clings to these transfers.

As a result - the lack of specificity at other people's gates. In three matches under the leadership of Slutsky, Rubin scored only once, although he missed the same amount. In a duel with Tambov, the Kazan team owned the ball more than 70% of the playing time, but practically did not create any moments at the opponent’s goal and delivered only three shots on target.

Free agents that may come in handy

Thus, in the offseason, Rubin will need a quality boost. And even despite the possible reduction in funding, Kazan can take a lot of strong players as free agents. If you start from the left flank of the defense, then in the summer agreements with the clubs of Yuri Zhirkov (Zenit) and Mikhail Merkulov (Ural) will expire.

It remains to be seen whether the bronze medalist of Euro 2008 in St. Petersburg will remain, but they really want to see him in his native Tambov. In this case, the age can scare off Rubin, because in August Yuri will turn 37 years old. Despite this, Zhirkov still does not spoil the weather, even in the strongest team in Russia, so he is unlikely to want to abandon his current status in favor of the role of a playing coach for the young wards of Slutsky.

But Merkulov, who is ten years younger than Zhirkov, looks a much more suitable option for Kazan. The media repeatedly made a match for Spartak, but before the contract expires, Ural will most likely not enter the field due to a conflict with the club, which could lower interest from top teams. In this case, Rubin can intercept the player, and he himself will probably be interested to work with a renowned specialist.

On the European market of free agents, 32-year-old Ivan Strinich, who two years ago fought together with the Croatian national team for victory at the World Cup in Russia, attracts attention. Immediately after the mundial, the athlete was found to have heart problems, and in the summer of 2019, Milan broke off his contract. Since then, the executive and hardworking left-back has been left without a team and is open to new proposals. An undoubted advantage of a Croatian is his knowledge of the Russian language, because in the early 2010s he spent four years at the Dnieper.

The Rubin base zone can be strengthened free of charge by no less experienced Zhusiley, who in 2011 became one of the first Anji newcomers Suleiman Kerimov. Then the Makhachkala residents paid € 11 million for it. As part of the Dagestan team, the Brazilian spent three years and was remembered by the fans as a reliable powerful opornik who literally “burned out” the entire center of the field. In February, he left São Paulo and has since been a free agent.

Of the Russian players, the Kazan club can strengthen the center of the field, in addition to Shatov, his teammate Daler Kuzyaev, who also regularly experiences health problems and seems to be able to leave Zenit. But Daler, like Shatov, is able to play in the center of the field in almost any position. The only question is whether the salaries of both will be pulled in Kazan.

But Diniyar Bilyaletdinov will definitely not have to pay a lot. The midfielder has been without a club for more than a year, but has not yet announced his retirement. It is possible that at the age of 35, Diniyar can still help Rubin. It is possible that the midfielder is no longer able to spend 90 minutes on the field, but at least he will be ready to qualitatively replace and share his experience with partners. Moreover, for the sake of the team, Bilyaletdinov can work equally well in many positions in the allotted time to him.

The same can be said about the 36-year-old Pavel Pogrebnyak, whose agreement with Ural will expire in the summer. At the moment, the high powerful forward resembles Kazan with their many canopies from the flanks much more than Ignatiev. But Pavel is not going to end his career yet.

Kazan already has enough options on the Russian market. So, without a team after leaving the Belarusian “Vitebsk” is the European champion in the youth team of Russia Alexander Prudnikov - another textured player that can push almost any vis-a-vis. At the same time, the striker, who was considered the main talent of his generation, was only 31 years old. He clearly did not say his last word and obviously will try to use one of the last chances in his career.

In the end, Kazan can turn to another former forward of the team. It's about Igor Portnyagin. A native of Vladivostok truly revealed himself in Rubin under the leadership of Rinat Bilyaletdinov. In the 2014/15 season, the striker scored 11 goals in the RPL and even made his debut in the Russian national team. A big mistake for Portnyagin, as it turned out, was leaving for Lokomotiv, where he never played. Igor began the journey through numerous leases, and in January he was completely left without a club after breaking up with Nizhny Novgorod.