Money is more important than awards: why the sale of Beck-Beck may indicate a lack of ambition at Lokomotiv

In the match of the third round of the Russian Championship, Lokomotiv in St. Petersburg will play with Zenit, which cannot win since September 28, 2019.

However, on the eve of the meeting, it is not so much the confrontation itself that is being discussed, but the future of the railway workers.

After the arrival of Ralf Rangnick and company, the main goal of the club was the acquisition of young players, their development and subsequent resale.

And a year later, this approach is beginning to bear fruit.

The first signs may soon be Alexis Beka-Beka, on the transfer of which in Cherkizovo they can earn a substantial amount.

The French midfielder joined Lokomotiv in August 2021 and became one of the first whose invitation fully met Rangnick's vision.

At that time, Beck-Bek was 20 years old, but he already had experience playing for the "Kan", and also managed to play for the youth and Olympic teams of the country.

Perhaps this is what prevented Muscovites from making a deal on more favorable terms.

The authoritative portal Transfermarkt estimated the cost of the midfielder at €800,000, but had to pay many times more for him – €6 million. Therefore, this decision of the selection department was initially perceived ambiguously.

True, at that time almost all the actions of Lokomotiv in the market and what funds were going to new players raised doubts.

It seemed especially strange to spend a total of €12 million on the purchase of Konstantin Maradishvili and Nair Tiknizyan from CSKA.

At that time, both were not the main ones in the army team and were not considered the main talents of their generation.

And given how reluctant European clubs are to attract Russians, it was not necessary to count on their profitable sale.

In the case of Tiknizyan and Maradishvili, the fears are justified so far - both of them not only do not have offers from teams from the Old World, but have practically not increased their value.

However, the situation with Beka-Bek suggests that Rangnick's ideas still work.

According to the media, Nice not only intends to acquire the midfielder, but are ready to shell out a fixed amount of €12 million for him immediately and another €2 million are written into the contract in the form of bonuses - their railway workers will receive if the player and his new club achieve certain results .

Thus, the net profit of Lokomotiv can be about 7 million, if you subtract the salary.

According to SalarySport, he received about €1.1 million a year.

At first glance, the Beka-Bek deal is extremely profitable and demonstrates that Russian clubs are not only not cut off from the European market, but are able to make money on football players in the current difficult conditions.

If the transfer of Alexis does not fail, then Lokomotiv will receive enough funds to invite two performers of a similar level to his place at once and try to repeat everything to the nearest comma.

From a business standpoint, the departure of Beka-Bek is an almost ideal solution.

Perhaps this is the reason for such a positive reaction to him in the press.

The former president of Lokomotiv, Ilya Gerkus, called it a success, and ex-striker of the Russian national team Dmitry Bulykin called for applause for the leadership of Lokomotiv.

And there is a real reason for this.

While most legionnaires suspend agreements with Russian teams and quietly go abroad, agreeing on a full-fledged sale, and even such a profitable one, is a serious achievement.

The question is how all this correlates with the plans of the railway workers for the season and whether it is in the interests of sports.

Leaving aside the financial benefits, the transfer of the Frenchman is not so clear.

Last season, he was one of the key players in the center of the field and enjoyed the great confidence of the coach.

In terms of playing time, he lost only to one representative of his role - Dmitry Barinov.

And in terms of the number of assists, he shared second place with winger Girano Kerk.

Both assisted partners four times, only Rifat Zhemaletdinov had more - seven.

It is very difficult to overestimate the importance of Alexis for the team, which was noticeable this season, although some circumstances blurred the impression of his game a little.

In the match with Nizhny Novgorod, he went out in the second half, but managed not only to deliver four shots on goal, but also created several dangerous chances himself.

As a result - high marks and the title of one of the best players of the meeting.

So, WhoScored gave him 7.6 (second place), and FotMob - 8.1 (third place).

He also looked good in the game against Rostov.

For one and a half halves, the Frenchman performed at the usual high level and was useful both in defense and attack.

And by the 64th minute, only Daniil Utkin was rated higher than him, who gave an assist to Nikolai Komlichenko.

However, incontinence cost him a second yellow card and the first removal of his career.

On the one hand, Josef Zinnbauer has someone to compensate for the loss of Beck-Beck.

The same Maradishvili, Daniil Kulikov and Artyom Karpukas can enter the support zone.

Although it is difficult to say how equivalent these replacements will be.

On the other hand, parting with one of the important players may well indicate that Lokomotiv does not set itself serious tasks for the season.

Now the railroad workers do not claim to win the championship.

In terms of composition, they are noticeably inferior to Zenit and are unlikely to surpass the same CSKA and Spartak.

In order to fight for high places, they need strengthening, but instead they give away a system-forming performer, whose transfer could well wait.

21-year-old Beka-Beka has clearly not reached the ceiling at Lokomotiv and could well progress further, only increasing his value.

And there was plenty of time for this: his current agreement with the club runs until 2026, so there was no need to be afraid of a possible suspension of the contract.

Of course, Lokomotiv's further actions in the market will show how the club wants to develop.

But the sale of the Frenchman suggests that he risks becoming a kind of analogue of Ufa, a donor team without ambitions, whose main goal is to develop and sell football players.

And the difference may be only in the level of buyers.

If in Bashkortostan they mainly supplied players for the RPL, then the main clients of the railway workers will be representatives of the top 5 leagues.

In conditions when the club gives away a high-quality and talented player on demand, it will be extremely difficult to fight for awards.

Especially with the "Zenith", which goes in a diametrically opposite way.

Petersburgers, although they bet on underage players with the prospect of resale, they put the solution of tournament tasks at the forefront and do not let them go until they receive an extremely profitable offer.

One can at least remember how Hulk, Ezequiel Garay, Axel Witsel and Leandro Paredes left the northern capital.