Forward Alexander Kokorin has officially moved to Spartak. A week before the start of the new season in the Russian Premier League, he signed a long-term contract for three years with the red and white, with the possibility of extending the agreement for another season. Kokorin moved to the new club as a free agent after four years at Zenit, of which he spent the last six months on loan at Sochi.

Talks about the possible transfer of the former Russian national team striker to Spartak have been going on for the past few days. According to Sport24, the footballer signed a contract in advance, and the official announcement was to take place on 1 August. However, it was postponed due to the death of the mother of Alexander Sobolev, another Spartak striker.

On Sunday morning, Spartak hinted at Kokorin's arrival with a promo video shot in the style of the CS: GO computer game, of which the forward is a fan. In the lower right corner, the authors indicated the numbers 103 and 352 - this is how many goals the footballer has scored and played in his professional career. At the end of this short video to pronounce the phrase «follow me» ( «Follow me» -. RT ). The voice that speaks these words is very similar to the voice of Kokorin himself.

Go go go 🔜 pic.twitter.com/9Eu6vSOuf1

- FC Spartak-Moscow (@fcsm_official) August 2, 2020

The details of the contract concluded with the striker were not reported at Spartak. According to the Football Bigi Telegram channel, Kokorin will earn € 3 million a year. He also received a lift in the amount of € 2.5 million immediately after signing the contract.

However, the general director of the club, Shamil Gagizov, said that Kokorin had agreed to a "lower" salary, but did not specify in comparison with what. He also noted that the arrival of the striker was coordinated with the head coach of the team, Domenico Tedesco, who already has at his disposal such central strikers as Sobolev, Ezequiel Ponce and Jordan Larsson.

“I am glad that Sasha chose challenge and sport. I want to note that he agreed to a lower salary ... The transfer was agreed with Domenico, he knows how to use our four forwards, "Gazizov told Championship.

Kokorin has already joined the new team and conducted training sessions with the main team of Spartak. He promised to make sure that the team regains the respect and love of the fans.

“I feel great ... I have already done my second workout. Everything is super ... Many thanks to the management of the club .. and the team for such a welcome, for the fact that everything went so quickly ... I am glad that I have a contract with Spartak for many years. I know what I want. I came here to help Spartak return the team that everyone is used to seeing, which wins, ”said Kokorin.

The striker chose the ninth number for himself, under which he preferred to play in other clubs. Previously, Reziwan Mirzov played under him, but he agreed to give the number to a more experienced team-mate.

“Now we will reach an agreement with Resiuan. I called him and asked if it was important for him to wear the ninth number, because I have been performing under it since childhood. This is a very important point for me, I even asked the club's management about this. I think Resiuan was sympathetic, there were no problems, ”the footballer said.

The first match of the new season, "Spartak" will play against "Sochi", in which Kokorin played on loan and for which he scored seven goals in ten matches. The player admitted that he is looking forward to this meeting and wants to play with the new team in full force.

Not all Spartak fans were happy with Kokorin's arrival. He repeatedly became a participant in various scandals, the loudest of which ended for him with criminal prosecution and imprisonment. Also in 2013, the striker himself claimed in an interview that he would never move to Spartak because of a child's resentment - as a child, Alexander came to the red-and-white review, but, according to him, they refused to let him out on the field without a white T-shirt. But now the footballer claims that he changed his mind long ago and is happy to join the team.

“Everyone remembers those old words of mine. My former teams had a sharp rivalry with Spartak. I had a childhood resentment for a very long time. Then I said such an ugly thing. It must have been stupid. Now the situation has developed so that I am here and want to play, ”said Kokorin.