PSG's interest in Malcolm, Kirk's departure to Antwerp and rumors of Azmun's return: how RPL clubs spend their off-season

Malcolm stayed at Zenit

Unlike most Russian giants, Zenit has not received decent money for its leaders in recent years.

Most of them left the club either due to the end of the contract, like Artyom Dzyuba, Magomed Ozdoev, Andrey Lunev and Branislav Ivanovich, or used FIFA permission after the start of the CBO, like Yaroslav Rakitsky, Yuri Alberto and Dejan Lovren.

And only on the transfers of Serdar Azmun, Sebastian Driussi and Hernan did the Petersburgers manage to earn at least something.

Last week, the blue-white-blues were close to breaking this trend.

In Paris Saint-Germain, they seriously hoped to get Malcolm, who looked very impressive in the first half of the current season.

The interest of the French champion in the midfielder was confirmed by head coach Sergei Semak and general director Alexander Medvedev, and the agent of the Brazilian Luis Fernando Garcia.

At the same time, the representative of the midfielder immediately emphasized that his client would in any case remain in Russia at least until the end of the season.

This is probably due to the opportunity to receive a large financial bonus for the next championship.

According to French media, the Parisians planned to strengthen the position of the attacking midfielder with 19-year-old Lyon footballer Ryan Cherki, but negotiations stalled.

After the club switched to other candidates.

The Brazilian himself, allegedly, was eager to move to a new team and informed the leadership of Zenit about this, but at the same time did not want to use FIFA's permission and terminate the contract ahead of schedule.

The Russian press reported curious details of the negotiations.

For example, according to RB-Sport, on January 29, a meeting took place between Medvedev and PSG President Nasser Al-Khelaifi.

On it, representatives of the blue-white-blues said that they were not going to part with the leader for an amount of less than € 40 million, and in addition, they expressed their desire to receive a percentage from its further resale.

The Parisians, on the other hand, were willing to take the player on loan without a mandatory buyout option, as they could not afford to spend heavily due to financial fair play restrictions.

As a result, the deal fell through.

“I had a correspondence and a conversation with Al-Khelaifi.

He noted that in the current situation, the option of a full-fledged transfer is not preferable for them.

PSG would be interested in loaning the player.

Which, of course, does not suit Zenith.

I would like to emphasize that PSG did not succumb to the devilish temptation to push the player to terminate the contract, ”Match TV quotes Medvedev.

It is possible that the Petersburgers will also be able to strengthen the squad.

Insider Ivan Karpov said that Serdar Azmun could return to St. Petersburg.

This cannot be ruled out, because the Iranian did not become the main one in Bayer.

This season, he spent only 13 matches as part of the Leverkusen team and never scored.

The main contender for the striker was Marseille, where the ex-sports director of the blue-white-blue Javier Ribalta works, but the deal did not take place.

Now the player has the opportunity to calmly study proposals from Russia.

Moreover, Zenit, as the domestic media assures, is not the only contender for Azmun in the RPL.

Lokomotiv and Sochi expect to rent him until the end of the season.

The option with the southerners seems even more realistic, given that they were headed by Kurban Berdyev, who actually gave the Iranian the way to big football in Rostov and Rubin.

At the same time, the specialist himself stressed that negotiations with the former ward are not ongoing.

Isidore fails medical examination at Lyon

The leading legionnaire almost lost Lokomotiv.

Moreover, it was initially reported that Isidor Wilson was close to moving to Schalke 04, but in the end he began to negotiate with French teams.

As Foot Mercato assured, the striker agreed with Lorient and even talked with the head coach

Directed by Le Bris.

However, Lyon unexpectedly intervened in the matter, which urgently needed a striker after the departure of Carl Toko-Ekambi.

Olympic, like Lorient, expressed a desire to take the player on loan, but offered a large buyout at the end of the season - € 6 million. The well-known Italian insider Fabrizio Romano called the amount € 5 million + € 750 thousand for the loan.

However, the signing of the agreement did not come in this case either, although the player arrived in Lyon for a medical examination.

He was the reason for the refusal of the seven-time champion of France from the striker - he was diagnosed with a knee injury.

But the departure of Girano Kerk to Antwerp raised a lot of questions.

Initially, Lokomotiv announced that it was giving the winger on a paid loan for six months, and he himself was not going to suspend the agreement.

However, in the Belgian club, representing the newcomer, they reported that he nevertheless took this step.

According to Transfermarkt, the Dutchman even agreed to pay the €600,000 due to the railroad for rent.

But his agent assured that the client did not use FIFA's permission and did not suspend the contract.

Lokomotiv not only loses players, but also strengthens its ranks.

Another newcomer to the team was the Argentine central defender Herman Conti.

He signed a contract for a period of 2.5 years

“I arrived at the training camp, ready to contribute to the common cause.

I hug everyone, and thank you for the warm welcome, ”the railroad Telegram channel quotes the Latin American.

The arrival of Conti can be called a good gain, especially since he was in the status of a free agent.

In the first part of the season, the railroad experienced serious difficulties in the center of defense due to the injury of Lucas Fasson.

A non-core position had to be closed even by nominal defensive midfielders Dmitry Barinov and Stanislav Magkeev.

In winter, the red-greens suffered another loss: Tin Edvay went on loan to Al Ain.

At the same time, one should not expect extravaganza from Herman.

Yes, he is tall, good at mounted martial arts and knows how to launch attacks, but the speed of the legionnaire leaves much to be desired.

It is no coincidence that he never managed to gain a foothold in Benfica.

In four and a half years in Lisbon, he spent only ten matches and was forced to go on loan regularly.

"Wings of the Soviets" bought a student of Guardiola

Curious transfers were also made by more modest RPL clubs.

For example, "Wings of the Soviets" found a replacement for Sergei Pinyaev in the face of a young Argentine Benjamin Garre.

An agreement was signed with him for a period of three and a half years.

The arrival of the 22-year-old Hispanic is of interest for two reasons at once.

First, his grandfather Oscar won the 1986 World Cup with Argentina.

True, he acted as an extreme defender, while the grandson is able to close both flanks of the attack.

Secondly, the technically fast Garre was considered one of the most talented players in the country in his youth, and many European top clubs wanted to see him at home.

As a result, Manchester City won the fight.

At 16, the winger moved to England.

There he regularly played for various youth teams of the townspeople, in particular, he played 12 matches in the UEFA Youth League and scored four goals.

And Josep Guardiola even took the young man to the training camp with the base.

“He helped me develop both football and personally.

Pep follows the players from the academy.

Now we are staying in touch, he wishes me a happy birthday, he is watching me, ”the Wings of the Soviets social networks quote Garre as saying.

Benhamin did not have a chance to make his debut for City, and in 2020 he returned to his homeland, signing a contract with Racing.

Last season, the midfielder played 26 meetings in the Argentine championship, in which he scored four times and once assisted a partner.

Now the legionnaire will try to prove himself in the RPL.

And "Nizhny Novgorod" has already agreed to rent a pupil of "Barcelona" Maki Bagnac.

The Cameroonian moved to the Catalan Academy in 2008 and managed to play for all the blue garnet teams, except for the main one.

In particular, he spent two seasons for the double of the team in the second division of Spain.

However, in the future, the defender played in less strong championships - Austria, Slovenia and Serbia.

Since 2021, he has defended the colors of Kairat.

Theoretically, a powerful experienced footballer can become an excellent replacement for Ilya Agapov, who left for CSKA.

But the big disadvantage of Banjak is increased trauma.

In just a year and a half in Kazakhstan, he missed a total of 19 meetings due to various health problems. 

But Artyom Dzyuba will not appear in Nizhny Novgorod.

At the end of last week, there were rumors that he would still sign a contract for six months, but this did not happen.

It is noted that the negotiations were curtailed due to the dissatisfaction of the fans with the high salary of the veteran.

Allegedly, he wanted to receive € 500 thousand for the specified segment.

Later, some media reported about the interest in the striker from CSKA.

Head coach Vladimir Fedotov added fuel to the fire, admitting that he was following the footballer's attempts to find a job, and stressing that he was up to the level of the team.

However, the communications director of the army, Kirill Breido, called such conversations fiction.

“An unequivocal fiction, into which they also decided to weave the words of Vladimir Valentinovich, who politely tried to get away from this unexpected question about Dzyuba.

A high-level player, we wish you success in finding a club, but this has nothing to do with CSKA, ”Breido emphasized in the Telegram channel.

At the same time, the red-blue striker would not hurt, since they loaned Adolfo Gaich to Verona until the end of June.

According to TyC Sports journalist Cesar Luis Merlo, Muscovites will earn € 500 thousand for him. Unfortunately for the fans, the Argentine, acquired for € 8.5 million, has not yet been able to prove himself in Russia.

This season he has played only 11 matches in all competitions and scored twice.

CSKA is now left with two center forwards - Fedor Chalov and Anton Zabolotny.