Wendel (Sporting - Zenit)

Transfer amount: € 20.3 million (according to

Transfermarkt)

The reigning Russian champion tried to strengthen the squad as much as possible ahead of the Champions League performance.

In the summer, there were rumors that Zenit intends to acquire a quality performer in the middle of the field and is seriously considering the possibility of buying CSKA midfielder Nikola Vlasic.

However, it was not possible to agree with the army team, after which the Petersburgers switched to the European market.

There, their choice settled on Wendel, a talented 23-year-old midfielder who is able to close three positions in the center at once.

The Brazilian spent the last two and a half seasons in Sporting Lisbon, where he managed to prove himself quite well.

So, last season, he spent 28 matches in the Portuguese championship and became one of the leaders of the team in several important indicators.

So, in terms of the number of successful dribbles per match (1.5), he took fourth place, and in terms of the number of key passes (1.1), he became seventh.

In terms of its functions, Wendel is indeed a bit similar to Vlašić.

He is able to act as a breakwater (even if the 1.1 tackles per game on average in the 2019/20 season do not show this too clearly), drag the ball to someone else's penalty area, and then execute a long-range shot, or a subtle pass into the penalty area.

The same sporting director of Zenit, Javier Ribalta, described the Brazilian as a "very hard-working football player", and also noted that his style of play best suits the role of "box-to-box".

In the St. Petersburg team, these functions are performed by Magomed Ozdoev, who is threatened by the arrival of a newcomer with a transfer to the reserve.

The Russian looks good in the club, but rather specializes in defensive actions, and is not so useful ahead.

Thus, the acquisition of Wendel can be explained by Zenit's desire to add both in the transition from defense to attack, and in positional offensives.

The Brazilian may well beat the opponent one-on-one and create sharpness at the enemy's goal.

In this he is noticeably superior to the same Ozdoev or Kuzyaev, who at different times appeared in the center of the field.

Nevertheless, in Portugal they reacted ambiguously to the transfer of Wendel to Zenit.

Firstly, more than a solid amount of compensation for the transfer of the Brazilian, which amounted to € 20.3 million, raises questions. And this is not counting the € 4 million that the Lisbon club can receive in the form of bonuses.

At the same time, the president of Leiria, Alexander Tolstikov, expressed the opinion that in the current conditions it would be very difficult for Petersburgers to buy a player for less money.

Secondly, not everyone is sure that the midfielder is already ready to be useful in key matches.

The same Tolstikov expressed doubt that Wendel was already ripe for solving serious problems, and also mentioned the instability of the Brazilian.

Paulo Futre, a former defender of the Portuguese national team, agreed with this, describing the player as “neither fish nor meat”.

Ze Luis (Porto - Lokomotiv)

Transfer amount: € 7 million

If Zenit needed to strengthen the central axis, then Lokomotiv needed to add a performer to the attacking one.

Fyodor Smolov was never able to find himself in the camp of railway workers, Eder looks more and more unconvincing every year, and it is hardly possible to make a serious bet on Vitaly Lisakovich.

In this regard, the red-greens tried to organize the arrival of the silver medalist of the 2018 World Cup Mario Mandzhukic in Russia, but at the last moment the transfer failed and eventually took the ex-striker of Spartak Zé Luis.

The last year was not the most successful in the career of the striker from Cape Verde, although at first his future in Portugal seemed more than promising.

In the first six games for Porto, Luis scored six goals, half of which he scored against Vitoria Setubal, but after that a black streak followed, which lasted until his departure from the camp of the “dragons”.

In the remaining time, he scored only four times, and in the summer he practically did not play at all.

The reason for this was largely muscle injuries, which seriously knocked the player out of the playing rhythm.

At the moment, Luis is not in the best shape, and his “dry” streak has been going on for more than eight months.

Yes, some of them fell on a break due to the coronavirus pandemic, but this only brightens up the situation a little.

He last scored against the humble Academico Viseu in the Portuguese Cup semi-final on 12 February 2020.

Most importantly, Luis has a noticeable decrease in the rate of won riding single combats, and this is what he was famous for during his performance in the RPL.

If in the last season at Spartak he was stronger in 2.7 duels on the second floor on average per match, and in the championship by 3.8, then at Porto he won only 2.4 duels.

Taking into account the above, the purchase of Luis could hardly be considered a priority for Lokomotiv, which was confirmed by the head coach Marko Nikolic himself.

According to him, first of all, the club was interested in inviting Mandzhukic, and Ze was turned to candidacy after the failure in negotiations with the Croat.

But in the face of a shortage of funds and the imminent closure of the transfer window, the very fact of signing a contract with a high-class forward can be considered a success.

As for Luis's prospects at Lokomotiv, experts consider them very favorable.

So, the former Tottenham striker Roman Pavlyuchenko admitted that he was pleasantly surprised by the forward's transfer and noted that he would be useful to the railway workers.

Well-known agent Paulo Barbosa agreed with him.

According to him, Ze's significant advantage will be the absence of the need to adapt to the new championship.

At the same time, he said that he considers the African to be a cooler player than Eder.

Speaking about the place in the line-up, Luis may well play both the role of the only striker and go out in tandem with Fyodor Smolov.

This season Nikolic has already tried to act according to the scheme with two clean strikers, but Eder did not really cope with his duties.

Perhaps Ze will be more successful, because earlier he had already demonstrated his ability to play along with his technical partner.

Victor Moses (Chelsea - Spartak)

Transfer amount: free one-year lease with the option to purchase for € 10 million (according to Sport-Express)

The transfer of Victor Moses is also due to serious personnel problems and is more likely to patch holes than to systematically strengthen the composition.

Over the past months, the press has regularly said that Spartak needs to acquire a right-back to replace Nikolai Rasskazov.

He refused to renew the contract with the club, as a result of which he lost his place in the squad.

And in his position, the nominally central midfielder Roman Zobnin was forced to play.

Even though the Russian national team player did it more than successfully, it could not last long.

According to head coach Domenico Tedesco, the player himself desperately wanted to return to the middle line, because it was there that he felt most comfortable.

Over the past several weeks, the names of a number of possible candidates for the role of Spartak's right-back have appeared in the media, but each of them has refused to move to Moscow.

Kenny Tete, Kenny Lala, Brandon Soppi, Serge Aurier and Elseid Husai alternately rejected the proposals of the red and white, after which the option with Victor Moses appeared.

Based on the tactical scheme, the Nigerian seems to be an ideal candidate for Spartak.

Moses is well trained in the right lateral position in a three-center setup and is one of Antonio Conte's favorites.

Under his leadership, he first appeared at Chelsea, and then at Inter, where he spent last season on loan.

Taking into account the fact that Tedesco has great respect for the Italian and considers him an example to follow, the signing of Victor seems quite logical.

According to the former president of Lokomotiv Ilya Gerkus, Spartak was interested in inviting Moses a year ago, but then the deal could not be completed.

Wasserman's agency dealing with the player's affairs was ready to facilitate his move to Moscow, but at that time the general director of the red-and-white Thomas Zorn could not convince the club's management of the need to acquire a footballer.

In terms of skills, even at 29, Moses is very good at attacking and is able to both sharpen the game with a well-timed pass and break through to the goal using dribbling and high speed.

Last season, he played 12 incomplete matches in Serie A (416 minutes), during which he managed to score five assists.

In defense, the situation is much more complicated.

Over the course of his career, Moses was not always willing to fulfill his duties in defense and was often not very willing to return to his half after attacks.

Last season, the Inter footballer made 0.3 tackles on average per game in Serie A, but did not make a single interception.

In the Europa League, the indicators are higher (0.6 and 1.0, respectively), but they can hardly be called outstanding.

This is what alerted Match TV commentator Georgy Cherdantsev, who expressed bewilderment with Spartak's decision to choose Moses.

According to him, the success of the Nigerian in Chelsea was due to the presence of N'Golo Kante and Nemanja Matic in the support zone, which is only confirmed by his not the brightest performance in Italy.

At the same time, the former Khimki coach Dmitry Gunko believes that Viktor will not repeat the fate of Andre Shyurrle and will be able to adapt as a ten-time Russian champion.