In Europe, they continue to consider the possible move of Fedor Chalov to one of the strongest football championships in the Old World. This time, interest in him was reported from Germany, where Bayer, Hoffenheim and Wolfsburg want to see the striker in their squad. Only the compensation amount may be € 10 million, which is € 4.5 million lower than its market value announced by the Transfermarkt portal.
At first glance, Chalov’s departure to Europe so far seems unlikely. This was stated by Sandor Varga, a representative of Base Soccer, the player’s case manager. He recommended paying less attention to rumors and said that now in Europe everyone is focused on calmly playing out this season and starting the next one. But a year ago, many did not believe that Crystal Palace really wanted to invite Fedor. Therefore, rumors of interest from Germany are also worthy of attention, especially given the fact that the transfer of a Russian can be beneficial both to himself and his army team.
This season cannot be called successful in the career of a young athlete. After the 2018/19 championship and winning the title of the best RPL scorer from Chalov, they were waiting for the conquest of new heights and getting into the Russian national team for the 2020 European Championship. But instead, the ninth number of red-blue markedly passed. According to WhoScored, all the most important indicators have declined, including the number of successful strokes (0.3 instead of 0.4), key transfers (1.3 instead of 1.8) and shots on goal per game (2.8 instead of 3.3). For seven rounds to the end, Fedor’s asset has only seven points (5 + 2) in the “goal + pass” system. For comparison, he finished the previous championship with 22 points (15 + 7).
Chalov also seriously dipped in the ratio of expected goals (xG) and real goals. Last season of the RPL, his xG was 15.04. Based on this, it was possible to conclude that the forward of CSKA was very good in terms of implementation, but now everything is much worse. So, the number of expected goals scored has dropped to 10.41, and the scores themselves have so far been more than half.
The decline in Chalov’s game was noticeable in late summer - early fall of 2019. In the first ten rounds of the Russian championship, he chalked up just four goals and two assists, but in the future the performance only worsened. Some attributed this to a loss of motivation after last year's triumph, others to fatigue due to the lack of a high-quality changer. Difficulties with the budget did not allow CSKA to strengthen the offensive line in the offseason, due to which Fedor was forced to play almost without replacements. As Viktor Goncharenko himself answered, it would be very useful for the striker himself to watch the game from the bench, but he could not give him such an opportunity. In addition, the reason could be the lack of competition.
It is noteworthy that even then some connected Chalov’s failures with his failed transfer to Crystal Palace. It was reported that the Premier League club really wanted to get an athlete and for this was ready to part with € 25 million, but Evgeny Giner considered it wrong to let the young and not fully grown player into the club of the middle hand, albeit from England, as a result of which Fedor remained in Russia.
Subsequently, many began to think about the fact that the decrease in Chalov’s effectiveness is directly related to the undeveloped move to Foggy Albion. The loss of motivation was due to disappointment due to the refusal of management to let him go to Crystal Palace, as well as to the head-spinning success in the Champions League. There, CSKA striker became the author of one of the goals against Real Madrid on Santiago Bernabeu. It was believed that he could feel ready for new challenges, and the struggle for getting into European cups in the RPL no longer interested him so much. So, the famous agent Alexei Safonov agreed that in the case of Fedor psychological problems could occur, and the former athlete’s representative Viktor Panchenko noted that he began to think less about football and reduced his demands on himself.
It is possible that a change of scenery, for example, a move to the Bundesliga, will help to begin to progress again. A chance to try himself in one of the strongest European championships can give Chalov a new motivation and make him work on himself with renewed vigor. In the past ten years, the German championship has gained the status of one of the main forges of talent, where young football players have great confidence. For a Russian, this can become a serious help and help him reach a new level.
Of course, Chalov will not just break into the foundation of any of the above groups, but the withdrawal of the attack leaders can help him to be at the core. So, even in the winter it was reported that Ishaq Belfodil was seriously thinking about leaving Hoffenheim, and his teammate Andrei Kramarich also did not rule out such a development. At the same time, the forward of “Wolfsburg” Waut Weghorst already with might and main match in “Newcastle”. Undoubtedly, Fedor can’t get away from the competition, but you just don’t have to rely on anything else in the Bundesliga. In the end, in the same Crystal Palace, he would have to fight for a place in the base with Christian Benteke and Jordan Ayu.
The stumbling block in the matter of transfer may be the amount of compensation. If a year ago Giner refused to sell Chalov to England for € 25 million, then why would he decide to let him go to Germany for € 10 million? Even taking into account not the most successful performance in the current championship, Fedor continues to be considered one of the most talented young forwards in the world. So, he is in the top 30 most expensive attackers under the age of 23, ahead of the Borussia player from Monchengladbach and the Swiss national team Bril Embolo, as well as 26 goals scored in 42 matches for Salzburg Patson Daku. This suggests that Russians are appreciated not only in their homeland, but also in Europe.
Undoubtedly, selling Chalov for an amount below the market will be a serious omission, which is unlikely to allow the visionary management of CSKA. However, it is not worth hastily rejecting offers. The army club can probably try to bargain the extra € 5 - 7 million, which will make the transfer noticeably more profitable. The athlete will have the opportunity to try himself in the new conditions, and the club - funds to strengthen the composition.
It is no secret that CSKA has been experiencing serious financial problems for a long time, which is why it cannot afford to carry out large-scale pre-bid campaigns. In the summer of 2019, red and blue threw all their energy into the design of a full-fledged transfer of Nikola Vlasic, which practically deprived them of the opportunity to strengthen other problematic positions. This was especially true for the defense game, where only Igor Diveev (€ 1.5 million) and Cedric Gogua (€ 400 thousand) were acquired. Zvonimir Charliya was also rented, but the team did not take root. In winter, Ilya Shkurin, the striker of the Dynamo Brest, was purchased, but so far it has not been possible to call him a full-fledged reinforcement. At the moment, the Belarusian striker spent only 51 minutes on the field and was not marked by productive actions.
The second part of the RPL season showed that the army team are experiencing serious personnel problems, and they can only be solved with the help of acquisitions. Given the fact that due to the coronavirus pandemic, the transfer costs of players can significantly decrease, the sale of Chalov can give CSKA the opportunity to buy a couple of high-quality performers and significantly extend the bench. The army selection service has long been considered one of the best in the country and is quite capable of wisely using the proceeds.