"Failure of the club, but not the player": is it possible to consider the transition of Kokorin to Fiorentina one of the worst transfers of the winter

Alexander Kokorin continues to experience serious problems after moving to the camp of Fiorentina.

According to the club's press service, the striker's return to the squad has once again been delayed.

The footballer not only will not be able to help his team in the match of the 30th round with Atalanta, but, as it is assumed in the Sport-Express, he will probably be out of the application in the game with Sassuolo in the 31st.

Thus, already next weekend, the Russian runs the risk of missing the sixth meeting in a row.

Taking into account the fact that he had previously only entered the field three times as part of the "violets", and twice more watched the performance of partners from the bench, his move to the Apennines is increasingly seen as a failure.

It was initially hard to believe in Kokorin's success in Serie A.

At least there were no serious prerequisites for this.

As part of Spartak, the forward looked extremely mediocre - both in terms of the quality of play and productivity.

Two penalty goals and one assists are not what one of the team's highest paid footballers would expect from a € 3 million a year salary.

And this is not counting the lifting (according to media reports, amounting to another € 4 million).

Towards the middle of December, rumors appeared that Kokorin had problems not only with the game, but also with discipline.

So, it was reported that the footballer was supposed to conduct individual training in Moscow, but instead went to rest in the Maldives.

With all this in mind, the decision to sell the striker to Fiorentina became extremely logical and reasonable - for at least one of the clubs.

Surely, many hoped that in a new championship for himself, Kokorin would unexpectedly transform and become similar to himself in the 2017/18 season, during which he scored 19 goals and gave four assists.

But in Florence, his problems did not disappear anywhere.

At first, he appeared on the field, but could not demonstrate anything impressive, and in early March he was completely injured.

Damage to the rectus femoris muscle put him out of action for more than a month, and at the moment it is not known whether the athlete will be able to continue performing this season.

Alexander has already missed four Serie A meetings in a row - one more than he played - and by the end of the month the balance may become completely unattractive.

The strangest thing about the situation with the Russian is that there is no exact information regarding the timing of his return.

Initially, it was planned for mid-March, but in the end it turned into a trip to the Villa Stewart clinic in Rome, where in 2018 Kokorin underwent cruciate knee ligament surgery.

On March 30, it was reported about the resumption of individual training and the prospect of recovering for the meeting with Atalanta, but in the end this was not confirmed.

There may be several reasons: either rehabilitation is not proceeding as quickly as planned, or more serious problems have been revealed.

But even if we leave all this out of brackets and look exclusively at sports results, the picture will not change much.

Even when Alexander was healthy, he performed extremely poorly and did not justify the funds invested in him.

In all three meetings, he came on as a substitute and spent a total of 79 minutes on the field.

At the same time, in the time allotted to him, he did not show any effective action and was remembered only for receiving a yellow card at the end of the game with Udinese.

Of course, during such a time it is not so easy to demonstrate impressive statistics, but the problem is that Kokorin's appearances on the field did not bring any benefit to his new team.

During the allotted time, he did not strike a single shot on goal and performed only 26 assists, two of which were after set pieces.

Also, he can only be credited with five pressing actions and one interception - but this is too little for a forward, whose transfer cost € 4.5 million (according to Transfermarkt).

It is also worth noting that with him the team conceded two goals and scored only one.

At the same time, the opponent's expected goals (xG) index during this period was noticeably higher (0.6-2.0).

It is not surprising that few of the attackers who changed the club in the winter failed to surpass the achievements of Kokorin.

If we take into account only footballers at least 30 years old (in March, Alexander celebrated his anniversary), who moved to the club from the top 5 European leagues, then in terms of productivity, the Russian lost to Islam Slimani (2 + 3, Lyon), Papa Gomez (1 + 0, Sevilla), Antoni Modesta (1 + 0, Cologne), Facundo Ferreira (1 + 0, Celta) and Samuel Di Carmine (0 + 1, Crotone).

And this despite the fact that only the transfer of the former Atalanta player cost more (€ 5.5 million).

The rest went either in the status of free agents or on loan, which is less risky and costly for the team.

In this regard, Kokorin's transfer certainly has the right to be considered as one of the most unsuccessful in the winter transfer window.

Fiorentina paid a substantial sum for the transfer of the footballer, who had been recommended by Fabio Capello and Roberto Mancini themselves, but had not yet received any dividends at the exit.

Alexander has already been repeatedly criticized by fans, and Italian journalists hastened to compare him with the odious Mario Balotelli.

However, in this situation, the fault lies not only with the player himself, but also with the club.

“Kokorin has an extremely difficult situation caused by systemic injuries.

At Fiorentina, he was in poor condition, far from his best form.

After all, it's not enough to appear on the field, you have to be in good condition.

And if you are constantly worried about injuries, then you simply do not have time to get them, "said the former head coach of Wings of the Soviets Gadzhi Gadzhiev to RT.

Of course, Kokorin has not yet coped with his duties, which is confirmed by statistics.

But as far as the damage is concerned, this is not his fault.

Injuries are an integral part of an athlete's life.

The careers of many footballers have turned out to be significantly less impressive due to health problems, but it is rather strange to blame them for this.

As for Alexander, the only question is whether these problems appeared already during the performances for the "violets" or they were known in advance.

In the first case, everything can be attributed to an accident, and in the second, it is worth asking the medical department and the club's management.

“Before acquiring a player, any club conducts a medical examination.

Apparently, somewhere there was a puncture, the condition of Kokorin was not assessed accurately enough.

If a football player is constantly in the infirmary, then he has chronic health problems associated with joints or spine.

First of all, the club needs to ask the doctors.

Although it is possible that the management knew about this, they still decided to carry out the transfer.

They thought that it was worth getting a player for such little money.

And over time he will recover and will perform, ”Hajiyev suggested.

It is noteworthy that until 2018, Kokorin missed 69 days and three matches in total due to injuries.

And after moving to Spartak, he dropped out four times for more than two weeks.

According to the well-known agent Alexei Safonov, the reason for this may not be the rupture of the cruciate ligaments on the eve of the home world championship, but being behind bars after incidents with the driver of Channel One host Olga Ushakova Vitaly Solovchuk, the head of the department of Mospromtorg Denis Pak and the general director of FSUE "NAMI" Sergei Gaisin ...

“A year in prison does not pass without a trace.

It's one thing when you are given a massage every day, other restorative procedures are performed.

I do not exclude that all this influenced the state of Kokorin, "the former agent of Artyom Dziuba suggested.

Hajiyev also believes that Kokorin's behavior outside the field could have caused his health problems.

“There is a lot of criticism in his address, but only half is fair.

Yes, his lifestyle did not meet professional standards - and this could be one of the reasons for his increased trauma.

Kokorin is a very gifted football player, no one argues with this.

But talent should be treated with care, ”he said.

At the same time, Hajiyev partially agrees that Kokorin's transfer can be considered a failure - but not for the player, but for the club.

After all, Fiorentina made a bet on the forward and paid money for him.

“This is only a failure of the club, but not of the player.

Fiorentina paid money for him, and the footballer cannot play for one reason or another.

For Alexander, this transfer would be a failure if he was in good shape, but could not withstand the competition.

Trauma is a kind of illness.

Therefore, it is fair to say that trouble happened to him, ”Hajiyev said.

As for the prospects, Safonov is not going to write off Kokorin from the accounts.

According to him, the reason for the failures may be the lack of full preparation together with the team, and conclusions can only be drawn at the end of the first part of the 2021/22 season.

“I would not write off Kokorin.

It should be borne in mind that he came in the middle of the championship.

Perhaps it was disassembled, and then injuries intervened in the case.

But he has a long-term contract with Fiorentina.

In the summer he will go through the preseason with the team, and at the beginning of next season it will be possible to draw conclusions.

Personally, I am optimistic about him.

I think he is able to play, ”concluded Safonov.