Last chance to prove themselves and challenge Zenit: why Spartak and Kokorin need each other

At first glance, there are many drawbacks in the signing of Kokorin by Spartak, and one of them is a large contract that may limit the club's opportunities in the summer transfer window. According to the media, the player demanded a three-year agreement worth € 10 million. And that's not counting the lifting ones.

Taking into account such costs, Spartak may not have enough funds to acquire players for those positions that really require strengthening. In particular, there has long been a question of the need to buy a supporting midfielder, who would become their Wilmar Barrios for the Moscow team, as well as a playmaker capable of giving the last pass. Last season, the red and white had serious problems in positional attacks, and the reason was largely due to the absence of such a player.

In this regard, the attraction of another forward might not seem the most logical decision. The team already has Ezequiel Ponce, Jordan Larsson and Alexander Sobolev, who scored more than ten goals last season. Yes, the latter scored most of the goals in Wings of the Soviets, but even in Spartak he did not look like a foreign body. By the end of the season, the influence of the grenadier on the team's performance was increasing more and more, as evidenced by the indicators of expected goals (xG). According to this indicator, Sobolev entered the five best representatives of red and white. In addition, do not forget about Georgi Melkadze and Maxim Glushenkov who returned from the lease.

Another reason for concern is the age of Kokorin. In March, he celebrated his 29th birthday and approached the final stage of his career. Thus, his arrival did not fit into the concept of the club, announced a year ago by its former CEO Thomas Zorn. Then it was said that Spartak intends to acquire young footballers, develop them and subsequently sell them to Europe. It was under this motto that the parting with the backbone of the champion team took place in the person of Luiz Adriano, Ze Luis, Fernando, Denis Glushakov, Dmitry Kombarov and others. And in their place were acquired the aforementioned Ponce and Larsson, as well as Alex Kral and Guus Thiel.

Yes, Zorn had already left the club, but then he clearly voiced not only his own thoughts on its development. The owner of "Spartak" Leonid Fedun at least supported the initiative of the general director. So Kokorin's transition can be considered, if not a change of course, then an exception to the rule.

In fact, signing a contract with Kokorin is not as straightforward as it might seem. Yes, over three million euros a year is a very solid salary for Russian football. But due to the lack of transfer fees, such costs do not look so impressive. For RPL players of this caliber remain piece goods, and losing the opportunity to get one for free is an unforgivable luxury. Especially for the team, which is on the seventh line following the results of 30 rounds, and in terms of the number of goals it took only tenth place. According to this indicator, Domenico Tedesco's charges were bypassed not only by all the representatives of the top five, but also by Arsenal, Ural, Sochi and even Tambov.

At first glance, the presence of Kokorin creates an excess in the attacking line of "Spartak". But the ex-Zenit forward is able to play not only the role of a center-forward, but also to act on the flanks. He practiced this at various times both in the St. Petersburg team and in the Russian national team. Suffice it to recall the 2016 European Championship, where Alexander, along with Fedor Smolov, were located at the edges, and Artyom Dzyuba was in the center. Yes, Leonid Slutsky's experiment turned out to be unsuccessful, but Tedesco may well do better.

At the same time, the tandem of Sobolev and Kokorin looks especially intriguing, which may well become a worthy answer to the bond between Dziuba and Azmun. The first of the Alexandrov is practically not inferior to Artyom in size and is able to take on the role of a pillar, and the second can successfully break into the penalty area and complete attacks.

Plus, do not forget in what busy schedule at least the first part of this season will take place. Not only the teams who have already lost their traditional summer break and will be forced to start a new championship two weeks after the end of the previous one, but often will play two days later on the third. In such conditions, the presence of four more or less equal forwards will be a serious help for Spartak. 

Another plus is the forward's passport. In the next season, RPL clubs will be able to submit only eight legionnaires to the application, which will make the presence of high-class Russians even more significant. Thus, Alexander gives Spartak the opportunity to invite skilled legionnaires to other positions.

Also for Kokorin speaks and his statistics in "Sochi". From February to July, he played ten matches for the team, in which he scored seven goals. If you do not take into account the confrontation with the youth of "Rostov", then there will be four goals in nine meetings, which also cannot be called a bad result. For comparison, Ponce and Larsson have one less accurate shot.

If we talk about the expected goals, then here too Kokorin bypasses his future competitors. So, before the pause in the championship, his xG index in 90 minutes was 0.75 goals, and after the match with Rostov - 0.36. After the resumption of the 2020/21 season for Spartak, the leader in this aspect is Sobolev (0.37), while Larsson and Ponce stopped at 0.33 and 0.25, respectively. Yes, if you remove the penalty from the calculation, the results of the former Sochi striker will become less impressive (0.56 and 0.2), but Larsson will also suffer (0.19).

Speaking about football issues, an important factor in Kokorin's departure from Zenit was his scandalous past. The St. Petersburg club obviously did not forget about his criminal case, which in many ways predetermined his move to Moscow. As reported in the media, Alexander himself was not averse to returning to the northern capital, but the team judged differently.

Apparently, in the camp of red and whites, they do not attach such attention to the image of a football player, for which there may be reasons. The main one is that, unlike Zenit, Spartak does not have such a composition and budget to painlessly refuse the services of football players of this level. The blue-white-blue can easily ignore Kokorin, and in his place they can buy either an expensive legionnaire or someone from Russian stars.

In addition, Tedesco is hardly concerned about unsportsmanlike moments in Kokorin's life, which makes his opinion of him extremely objective. If Alexander continues to work hard, maintain discipline and perform well, Domenico will easily bet on him.

In addition, Shamil Gazizov promised to throw the glove to the leader of Russian football and, perhaps, is already preparing the ground for this. According to media reports, the striker's departure has already entailed a conflict between head coach Sergei Semak and general director Alexander Medvedev, which could lead to parting with a specialist. Given that the last two predecessors of Semak were unable to achieve success with blue-white-blue, the resignation of the coach could seriously affect the prospects of the team.

The mood of Kokorin himself cannot be ignored. He will certainly want to take revenge for such an attitude towards him on the part of the club and will make every effort to hit his goal in the upcoming championship. In addition, for Alexander, this may be the last chance to prove himself and prove that the title of "golden boy of Russian football" was given to him for a reason. The only question is whether he has enough character.