Nyamsi and Hamulic moved to Lokomotiv
One of the main tasks for Lokomotiv in the winter was to strengthen the center of defense. In the first part of the season, the railway workers experienced problems in this zone, and Mikhail Galaktionov had to try more than one pair. In the end, he settled on Lucas Fassone and Evgeniy Morozov. However, their duet did not inspire confidence either.
But on the first day of February, Muscovites received a long-awaited reinforcement in the person of Zherzino Nyamsi, interest in whom had been reported since the beginning of the year. Moreover, the footballer, who played almost 100 matches in Ligue 1, cost them only € 3.5 million.
It seems that the red-greens have acquired a truly strong performer. He began his career in his native Rennes and even won the French Cup with him. Moreover, in 2020 he made his debut in the Champions League and also played a full game against Krasnodar. He also has three matches for the youth team. In Strasbourg, Gerzino quickly became one of the leaders.
Nyamsi's main strength is her incredible size (height 195 cm). It is not surprising that he is almost unrivaled in the fight on the second floor and is reliable in positional defense and set-pieces. Gerzino's shortcomings are a continuation of his advantages. With such a height, he does not have high speed and does not always keep up with nimble forwards. In addition, the athlete is regularly injured - over the past 3.5 years he has missed 35 matches due to various injuries.
Said Hamulich also came from France. The striker was rented until the end of the season. In him, Lokomotiv received a man with a difficult fate. A few years ago, he almost hung up his boots, but then took off in the Lithuanian championship. The Bosnian was promoted to the Polish Stal and there he scored nine goals in the local elite division during the season.
After that, Toulouse paid attention to him, paying €2.5 million for the forward. However, at the new club, he was content with rare appearances as a substitute and was only remembered for his refusal to wear a rainbow T-shirt in support of LGBT people before the match with Nantes. In the summer, Hamulic went on loan to Vitesse and scored only one assist there. Now he will try himself in Russia.
Ugalde called the transfer to Spartak a dream
In turn, another capital giant, Spartak, completed the transfer of Manfred Ugalde, which RT reported earlier. The Costa Rican signed a contract for a period of 4.5 years and received the ninth number. And his annual salary, according to insider Ivan Karpov, will be €1.7 million.
But the most important thing is the cost of the forward. He cost the red and white €13 million. More, €18 million, was paid only for Guus Thiel. In Twente they practically set their own record. Despite this, the club’s management admitted that doing business with the Russian team was not entirely correct. But technical director Arnold Bruggink reminded: Muscovites are not included in any sanctions lists.
Otherwise, all parties were satisfied. Guillermo Abascal was glad that with the arrival of a newcomer, the variability in the attack will increase.
“We have nothing to hide here. We were really looking for reinforcements in the attack line. What was required was a player who was capable of playing a short pass, using space well, moving correctly, actively working under pressure, and opening up behind defenders,” the specialist explained.
The footballer himself called joining a team of this caliber a dream. And his agent Adolfo Hernandez Aguilar expressed confidence: after three or four years, Ugalde will be profitably sold to one of the leading European championships.
Muscovites may not stop there in winter. Allegedly, they were also offered to sign Krylia Sovetov’s main goalkeeper Ivan Lomaev. The young goalkeeper showed his worth in the RPL, but this season he played in only half of the matches of the national championship, including due to injury.
Zenit and Krasnodar extended agreements with leaders
Zenit significantly strengthened its roster at the beginning of the year, but now risks losing some of its leaders. In particular, in Brazil, rumors regularly appear about the return of Claudinho and Wendel to their homeland. For example, UOL claims that Corinthians entered into negotiations with the St. Petersburg midfielder. However, his agent Luis Fernando Garcia denied the information.
The situation with Wendel seems to be much more complicated. According to the source, the midfielder demonstrates in every possible way his reluctance to play in Russia: at the first training camp he was allegedly late five times, and came directly to the stadium for one of the friendly matches. But this information was not confirmed either.
“Everything that was written about Wendel is a big lie. He returned to training camp on time and also trains regularly with the team. He is very motivated,” said the athlete’s agent Thiago Ribeiro.
It is noted that the blue-white-blues do not intend to consider offers for two stars in the winter, but are ready to let go of Do Queiroz, who receives almost no practice.
Moreover, Zenit protected itself from the possible departure of Mateo Cassierra, who was interested in Sevilla and Al-Shabab. The current champion has signed a new contract with the top scorer of the current Premier League until the end of the 2026/27 season. According to the domestic press, the amount of compensation amounted to € 30 million.
Another gold medal contender, Krasnodar, is also trying to retain its leaders. Following Matvey Safonov, he extended the agreement with Nikita Krivtsov until June 2029. The young man has been playing for the southerners since 2021, and during this time he has become their leading midfielder. In the current RPL season, he took part in all 18 meetings and remained in the reserves only a few times. The midfielder also scored the most important winning goal in the meeting with CSKA.
Dynamo loaned out Lesovoy
While Spartak and Lokomotiv made significant transfers, CSKA and Dynamo, which had strengthened well in the previous window, are doing without newcomers at all.
The blue and white even loaned Daniil Lesovoy to Maccabi Haifa until June with an option to buy. His possible departure to Israel was reported back in December. Local media even wrote about an attempt to grant the football player the appropriate citizenship so that he would not be considered a foreign player. But questions arose about the possibility of transferring money to Muscovites, given the failed purchase of Eden Kartsev from Maccabi from Netanya in 2022. Perhaps that is why the parties have agreed on a lease for now.
For Marcel Lička, the departure of the winger will definitely not be a problem. This season, he received time mainly in the Russian Cup, but did not play even 100 minutes in the RPL. But with Maccabi, Lesova has a good opportunity to win gold medals, because the team is on the second line of the table, four points behind the leading team of the same name from Tel Aviv.
Meanwhile, the army team has not yet been able to extend the agreement with a much more important performer for them - Fedor Chalov. The striker's current contract will expire at the end of the year, and in the summer he will have the right to negotiate with other teams. It is noted that he is in no hurry to reach an agreement with the club because of his desire to try his hand at Europe and not good enough personal conditions - €1.5 million.
“Right now the ball is in the player’s court. The club values Fedor very much and hopes that a compromise will be found - all our efforts are aimed at extending the contract. And, of course, the proposed conditions are much more attractive than those announced, and the latest offers to Chalov can be called unprecedented for CSKA,” said Muscovites communications director Kirill Breido.
As for the possible reinforcement, as RT’s source assures, the army team highly appreciates the potential of 23-year-old Porto B striker Wendel, but is not ready to pay the required €5 million for him.
"Rostov" strengthened with two foreign players
They are not abandoning attempts to strengthen the squads and squads from the second half of the table. Rostov, following Ronaldo, added two more foreign players to the roster. The problematic center of defense was strengthened by Eyad El-Askalani and Oumar Sako.
The Egyptian's transfer for almost €1 million was surprising, because by the age of 19 he had only managed to make ten appearances in the local Premier League. Probably, the defender was noticed in the youth team, but even there his performance was minimal. For example, he played 11 minutes at last year's Africa U20 Cup.
But the loaned Ivorian has much more experience. In addition to his homeland, he performed in Qatar, Austria and Bulgaria, but he showed himself most clearly in the latter country, where he defended the colors of Beroe and Arda. The legionnaire's assets include even one match for the adult national team of Côte d'Ivoire.
But Ural took a different path and continues to expand its Belarusian representation. Just this winter, winger Artyom Kontsevoy and defensive midfielder Valery Bocherov moved from BATE. Now, in total, the Ekaterinburg team includes five representatives of their neighbors, led by head coach Viktor Goncharenko and his assistant Alexander Ermakovich.
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