"It would be wrong to give up the chance to play there."
The transfer of Alexander Kokorin to Fiorentina has become the main topic of recent days in Russian football.
Initially, it seemed that this was nothing more than a rumor, and the striker would not leave Russia anywhere.
However, on Thursday evening on the official website of "Spartak" there was news of the agreement reached between the clubs.
Also, the red and white reported that in case of a successful medical examination, the striker will sign a contract with the Florentines.
“We wish Alexander to prove himself successfully in one of the leading European football leagues,” the statement reads.
According to sports journalist Ivan Karpov, on the evening of January 21, the striker will fly from Dubai, where Spartak is training, to Moscow to complete the documents necessary to obtain an Italian visa.
And on the 25th, Alexander will go to Rome and undergo a medical examination at the Villa Stuart clinic.
The salary of the Russian in Fiorentina will allegedly be € 2 million per season, and the red and white will receive € 3.8 million for it. The athlete's agent Timofey Berdyshev confirmed that his client “agrees to an adequate salary cut”.
“It would be wrong to give up the chance to play there.
Football players are always in the market, we didn't have any conversations whether we wanted to leave or not.
We came to the training camp, “Spartak” received an offer ”, - quotes Berdyshev“ Sport-Express ”.
The 29-year-old striker himself did not hide his joy from what happened and emphasized that he agreed to receive less for the opportunity to play in a strong European championship.
“The most important thing is a medical examination and the signing of an agreement.
By and large, the contract has been agreed, there are still some nuances.
This is Europe - I wanted to go there for a long time.
I will soon be 30 years old: if not now, then, probably, there will be no more chance.
I understand that I have to go and try and see.
And there - how it will turn out ", - quotes the words of Kokorin" Sport-Express ".
The footballer also admitted that Fiorentina first showed interest in him back in April last year, when the club was run by completely different people.
“I talked with Cesare Prandelli (head coach of Fiorentina -
RT
) three days ago: he asked
where
I could show my best qualities.
He replied that he was able to play anywhere, but on the right he was the best.
Prandelli explained how it would all look, promised that they would provide time, they would not rush - everyone understands everything perfectly.
A month, I think, is needed, ”Kokorin added.
Finally, the striker did not hide that he was not on the best terms with the management of the Moscow club.
“I will remember the time spent in Spartak as good.
There remained a misunderstanding with the management, with the guys everything is fine and with the coaches too.
I was inside the team, everything was at the highest level.
There are only warm words left, ”the striker noted.
Alenichev's unsuccessful transition to Roma and a year and a half Kanchelskis in Fiorentina
In case of successful medical examination and signing a contract with Fiorentina, Kokorin will become the second Russian footballer in the current Serie A draw after Alexei Miranchuk, who defends the colors of Atalanta.
It is curious that both are pupils of Lokomotiv.
In total, ten domestic players played in Italy before the striker.
Two of them moved to the Apennine Peninsula from Spartak.
Igor Shalimov was the first to take such a step in July 1991.
He moved to Fogja together with Igor Kolyvanov.
Moreover, the last one was considered the main star, for which Dynamo received more than € 2 million. On Shalimov, the red-and-white earned only € 300 thousand.
However, he took full advantage of the chance.
He fit perfectly into the schemes of the Czech coach Zdenek Zeman and actually covered the entire right edge.
Phenomenal physical readiness allowed him both to practice in defense and to join attacks.
In Serie A's debut season, he scored nine goals and was voted the league's best legionnaire ahead of stars like Kareca, Marco Van Basten and Gabriel Batistuta.
And in the summer of 1992, the Russian moved to Inter for almost € 7 million. In Milan, Shalimov also played brightly at first and scored a lot.
Moreover, Igor spent the first half of the season in the position of a defensive midfielder.
But this segment did not last long.
The media accused domestic football of regular violations of the regime and an overly bohemian lifestyle, and later he did not work well with the new head coach Osvaldo Bognoli and stopped getting into the starting lineup.
After Inter, Shalimov played at Bologna with Kolyvanov, Udinese and Napoli.
In 1999, the banned drug nandrolol was found in the athlete's body, and he received a two-year disqualification.
The injured midfielder decided to retire despite the fact that he was only 29 years old.
Dmitry Alenichev was the second to move from Spartak to Italy in 1998.
In the middle of the 2000s, he was the main star of the Russian championship, and in 1997 he was recognized as the best football player in the country.
The red and whites released the midfielder to Roma for € 6.15 million. The foreign career of the Velikiye Luki native began quite successfully.
Already in the second match for the Romans, he scored against Silkeborg in the UEFA Cup, and later upset Chievo in the Italian Cup.
Finally, in October, Alenichev helped the team beat Fiorentina in Serie A.
But Dmitry could not fully integrate into Roma.
The future head coach of the Russian national team Fabio Capello did not see the Russian in the starting line-up and relied on other performers.
Not surprisingly, in January 2000, the club sold the midfielder to Porto for € 3 million, with whom the Russian eventually won the Champions League.
And his period in “Roma” was remembered by the fans mainly from the photo in which Francesco Totti himself is holding Dmitry in his arms.
Before Kokorin, only one Russian played in Fiorentina - Andrei Kanchelskis.
In 1998, he moved to Italy already in the status of a Manchester United star for a large sum for those times - € 8 million. In Florence, a pupil of Dynamo Kiev quickly became his own and, according to him, easily learned Italian.
Unfortunately, injuries prevented Kanchelskisku from revealing himself to the fullest, and he spent only a year and a half at Fiorentina, but managed to score the most important goal against Milan, which helped his team to break into European cups.
Forgotten Budyansky and "Russian" "Bologna"
Kolyvanov played the largest number of matches in Serie A among domestic players - 164. Unlike Shalimov, he stayed at Foggia for five whole years and did not abandon the team, even when it flew to Serie B.
Only after Euro 1996 did the Russian move to Bologna, where he again reunited with Shalimov.
There, the midfielder became a real star.
In the 1996/97 season, he scored 11 goals in the national championship, and in the next - nine.
Unfortunately, injuries prevented Igor from reaching his full potential.
Like Shalimov, he ended his career early.
At 32, the footballer had to hang his boots on a nail due to back problems.
In general, Bologna can be called the most Russian team in Italy.
In addition to the two above-mentioned players, Igor Simutenkov defended her colors in the late 90s.
Immediately after the end of the 1994 Russian championship, where the striker became the top scorer, he moved to Regina at the age of 21.
However, with this team he had to travel from Serie A to Serie B. There was no question of any fight for titles.
In 1998, Simutenkov moved to Bologna, and then left for Spain.
Two domestic footballers managed to play for Roma - Alenichev and Omari Tetradze.
The defender of the Russian national team immediately became the main footballer of the Romans, but a serious injury actually put an end to his career in Italy.
The next season, he was content with substitutions, and in the summer of 1998 he left for Greece, not waiting for Alenichev quite a bit.
In fifth place in terms of the number of matches among Russians in Serie A is still Viktor Budyansky, who ended his career at 27 due to multiple injuries.
But just ten years before that, the native of Volchansk had moved to Juventus from Moscow Academician.
Moreover, he managed to play a couple of matches for Turin side-by-side with such masters as David Trezeguet, Pavel Nedved, Alessandro Del Piero and Gianluigi Buffon.
The footballer spent the 2006/07 season in Serie A at Ascoli and earned high marks from experts and fans for his performance.
And in 2007, Viktor was summoned to the Russian national team for the first time.
Guus Hiddink didn't stop there and provided him with playing time in the matches of the qualifying tournament for Euro 2008 with Andorra and Croatia.
Unfortunately, that summer was the beginning of the end for Victor.
In Udinese, where the Russian moved from Juventus, he did not manage to play, and went on loan to Lecce, which played in Serie B.
The first domestic legionnaire did not have a career in Italy either.
At the beginning of 1991, Igor Dobrovolsky was supposed to move to the Apennine Peninsula.
Genoa was not afraid to pay Dynamo € 1.7 million for the Olympic champion after the USSR national team won the European Youth Championship.
However, the four-year contract with the midfielder was signed after the closing window of the application window - in December 1990.
The young footballer had to go on loan first to the Spanish Castellón, and then to the Swiss Servette.
He made his debut for the Genoese Dobrovolsky only in the 1992/93 season, but due to injuries and mistrust of the coach, he played only four matches in Serie A. In 1993, Igor moved to Marseille, with which he won the Champions League.
Finally, Ruslan Nigmatullin's Italian section turned out to be a frank failure.
In January 2002, six months before the World Cup, he decided to move to the modest Verona from Lokomotiv fighting for gold and was content with one match in Serie A, which remained the only one for him.
In it, the Russian conceded three goals from Inter.