The chance of a lifetime or an unjustified risk: should Zakharyan move to Chelsea

What is known about the interest of Chelsea?

The intention of the Londoners to acquire 19-year-old midfielder of the Russian national team Arsen Zakharyan almost simultaneously was reported by several sources.

One of the first to talk about this was the well-known Italian insider Gianluca Di Marzio, according to whom, Chelsea sent a request to Dynamo to transfer a football player.

The fact of negotiations has already been confirmed by the athlete's agent Pavel Andreev, who noted that the agreement on the contract is in the final stage.

The English club has not yet begun to expand on this topic.

“Chelsea policy is not to respond to transfer rumors and media speculation.

No comment now," Steve Atkins, the club's press officer, told Sport-Express.

If you believe the rumors, the invitation of a Russian will cost the "aristocrats" a very modest amount by modern standards.

It is enough for foreign clubs to shell out €15 million to activate the buyout option in Zakharyan's contract, which Chelsea seems to have taken advantage of.

Thus, Arsene can become part of a large-scale re-application campaign, in which the Londoners have already managed to sell ten players and take on eight new players, including star players Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly and Marc Cucurella.

Is this the first time Zakharyan has been sent to Europe?

Rumors about the possible departure of the Russian to one of the five top championships first appeared in September 2021.

Then it was said about the interest in Zakharyan from Barcelona, ​​which had not yet entered the restructuring phase after Xavi's arrival as head coach.

Until the end of the year, the list of potential midfielder employers only increased.

Borussia Dortmund scouts allegedly followed Arsene, it was reported that Real Madrid and Everton were ready to fork out, but the matter did not go further than publications in the press.

Moreover, in the last two cases, either Pavel Andreev or the representative of the athlete Gennady Golubin reported the absence of negotiations.

And this is qualitatively different from the current situation and gives reason to believe that Chelsea really expects to take Zakharyan.

Andreev never hid his confidence in the potential of his client.

Back in November, he spoke about the need to move to Europe, but since then there has been no more talk about this.

Surely, the situation in the world also influenced, because of which it became much more difficult for the Russians to attract the attention of foreign teams.

Experts believe that this largely prevented last season's top scorer Hamid Agalarov from leaving the RPL.

What has changed since the rumors about the interest from Barcelona?

Almost a year ago, many considered Zakharyan unprepared to move to Europe.

At that time, he was only 18 years old, and there was not a single full-fledged season in the RPL behind him, and there was also a lack of experience in playing in the international arena.

Yes, by that time the midfielder managed to make his debut for the Russian national team and play a total of 115 minutes in matches with Croatia and Malta, but this was hardly enough.

After that, Zakharyan spent a full season, in which he scored 15 (7 + 8) points in the “goal + pass” system, helped Dynamo reach the Russian Cup final for the first time since 2012, and also managed to impress the second foreign specialist.

If there was no doubt about Sandro Schwartz's trust in him (it was the German who lifted him from the double and turned him into a base player), then it was somewhat more difficult to achieve the same from Slavisa Jokanovic.

And, according to the Serb, he succeeded.

“Yes, he took some important steps early, got into the national team, became the main player in the club.

But he has to grow and grow and grow.

If you ask me if he can play in one of the top European leagues, my answer is yes, I believe in it.

But Zakharyan must be supported.

He is still 19 years old, the most important thing now is everyday work, composure, willingness to learn, ”Match TV quotes Yokanovic.

With whom will Zakharyan have to fight for a place at the base?

But it's one thing to win the competition for getting into the Dynamo starting lineup, and quite another to repeat it in Chelsea.

After the departure of Sebastian Szymanski, Muscovites have only four contenders left, three places in the middle line.

In this situation, it was extremely difficult to be in stock.

In fact, only Luka Gagnidze, another 19-year-old midfielder who returned from loan at the Polish Rakuv, could oust Zakharyan from the start.

In London, he will face a tense struggle for match practice and it will be extremely difficult to get the upper hand in it.

This season, Thomas Tuchel prefers a 3-5-2 formation with a very interesting distribution of functions among midfield representatives.

If Cucurella plays the role of a clean left lateral and furrows the entire curb, then Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who is located on the opposite side, often shifts to the middle, leaving the flank to the nominally third central defender Rhys James.

In the center there is a powerful fist in the face of Jorginho, Mason Mount and N'Golo Kante.

And this despite the fact that there are still a number of strong players in the reserve who can fight for the title of the main ones.

Here are ex-Real midfielder Mateo Kovacic, and Conor Gallagher, who has already appeared on the field three times during the season, as well as promising Billy Gilmour, experienced Ross Barkley and recently acquired Cesare Casadei and Carney Chukvuemeka.

In the course of the championship, James can also rise to the usual place of the right lateral, as a result of which Loftus-Cheek will return to the center.

Thus, Zakharyan, in the event of a transition, risks becoming not even the fourth or fifth, but the seventh or eighth option of Tuchel.

Is Zakharyan ready for a move to Chelsea?

However, it must be understood that such proposals are not scattered.

Chelsea remains one of the strongest clubs in the world and even banal team training will undoubtedly benefit anyone.

It is enough to look at the example of Yuri Zhirkov, who, although he did not become the main player at Stamford Bridge, gained tremendous experience.

Perhaps this is what allowed him not only to become one of the strongest representatives of his generation, but also to remain the best left lateral in the country until the age of 37.

In addition, a transfer to Chelsea does not necessarily mean living in the reserves and waiting for the opportunity to prove themselves in cup matches with teams from the lower divisions of the country.

The club certainly soberly assesses Zakharyan's abilities and understands that he needs to constantly play in order to develop.

Therefore, they will try to rent it out.

For Arsene, this will be a great option, even if because of this he ends up not in the Premier League, but, for example, in the Championship.

This will allow him not only to stay in the Blues' field of vision, but also to get used to English football.

Against this background, the transition to a conditional second-tier team does not seem more advantageous.

In this context, we can recall Alexander Golovin, who rejected the offers of Chelsea and Juventus and went to Monaco.

As a result, the Russian turned out to be not only in not the strongest of the top 5 championships, but also in a club with little ambition.

And in this situation, it is much more difficult to attract the attention of the giants.

Of course, if you are not called one of the most talented defensive players on the planet, as in the case of Aurélien Tchouameni.