Kuban football clubs have entered the active phase of the winter transfer campaign

Ilzat Akhmetov left FC Krasnodar. The Bulls’ management asked that the footballer and his agent treat the club more respectfully. PFC Sochi parted ways with three players and acquired one player. “MK in Kuban” is about the main sporting events in the Krasnodar region.

Increased your chances of winning the championship

Ilzat Akhmetov finally left the Bulls. Last week, City reported that the attacking midfielder had activated his option and terminated his contract with the club. For this, Krasnodar will receive financial compensation. In turn, Zenit also confirmed that the footballer has joined the ranks of the St. Petersburg club. The contract with the player runs until the end of the 2025/26 season with an option to extend for another season.

It is clear that the move to a direct competitor for the championship immediately caused a stir in the football community. Most agreed that with this transfer, Zenit weakened Vladimir Ivic’s team. The media reported that the transition took place very quickly – within a few days. Allegedly, the St. Petersburg team simply paid the “bulls” 850 thousand euros – this amount of compensation was stipulated in the football player’s contract. It is clear that before this Zenit received the midfielder’s consent. Journalists reported that Krasnodar also offered Akhmetov a contract on improved terms, but the footballer was not satisfied with this offer.

The midfielder’s agent Irakli Gegechkori added fuel to the fire. He explained why Akhmetov did not want to remain on Ivic’s team.

— Krasnodar tried to extend the contract. The club made an offer on December 31st. At that time we did not yet have a decision on Zenit. But Krasnodar’s offer did not suit us. I’ll explain why: when a club buys Castaño for seven million euros, Cadi for five million euros, but at the same time the club treats foreigners with more respect than Russians, this is wrong. A player’s football life is short. In addition to pleasure, goals and points, a football player must earn his daily bread for the rest of his life,” Gegechkori said.

The agent noted that if Akhmetov did not want to move to Zenit, he would not be able to do anything about it. He also emphasized that the footballer’s decision was a balanced one, which he does not regret today.

– Of course, Akhmetov won under the conditions. Zenit has bonuses and a good bonus program. If Akhmetov brings benefits to the club, he will benefit significantly. Moving from Krasnodar to Zenit is the same as moving from Sevilla to Real Madrid,” Gegechkori said.

The player’s agent also said that Krasnodar could well keep the player on its roster. He also accused the club of failing to fulfill the promises given to Akhmetov during the transfer.

— If Krasnodar had shown more persistence, if they had wanted to sign a long-term contract, then this whole situation would not have happened. The clauses of the current contract allowed him to leave for almost any Russian club. If Krasnodar really wanted to keep Akhmetov, he would have left him. But Krasnodar’s assessment of the football player did not meet our expectations. In addition, when we moved to the club, we were promised that Akhmetov would be used either in the “eight” position or in the “ten” position. But the promises were not kept there: he did not play a single match in these two positions. So the move to Zenit was a result of many factors,” Gegechkori said.

At the same time, the agent stated that Ivich and Krasnodar general director Vladimir Khashig knew about Akhmetov’s departure. The coach really liked the football player. The Serb allegedly admitted to Gegechkori that Akhmetov is the second player in his coaching career with outstanding technique and potential.

— Ivich knew about this situation, in October I told him that the likelihood of Ilzat leaving the club was high. For his part, he said that as a coach he would do everything possible to keep Akhmetov. A day ago I talked to him, because, of course, to some extent we let him down. The conversation was very positive. Ivich said that he understood Akhmetov’s choice and wished him good luck. He also said that my ward is not only an excellent football player, but also an excellent person. Ivich said that he would be glad if their football paths crossed again, Gegechkori said.

Krasnodar did not like this version of leaving. Immediately after the agent’s statements, Krasnodar vice-president Valery Bubnov spoke through the media. It is difficult to remember when this club functionary commented on something. With a high degree of probability, it can be argued that he broadcast the response of Krasnodar President Sergei Galitsky.

—We do not comment on agents’ statements, but here the number of lies in one interview exceeded the norm. The first is with regard to the attitude towards Russian football players: in the team we do not divide football players according to their passport and belonging to any country. And we would like to note that we already have a core of Russian football players, our students. As for Mr. Akhmetov, he probably went to a team where, as they believe, the attitude towards Russian football players is better,” said Bubnov.

The vice president also told his vision of negotiations with the football player to improve the terms of the contract. According to Bubnov, Akhmetov simply did not respond to the club’s proposals.

—When we made the first offer for Akhmetov, there was silence and a fax simply arrived that he was moving to Zenit. Okay, he left – and he left, he is not a starter. We are grateful to have him on the team. We made him an offer, to which we did not receive an answer,” said the vice-president of Krasnodar.

Bubnov said that he would like Akhmetov and his agent to treat their former team with more respect after leaving it. At the same time, on behalf of the club, he wished the midfielder success in his future career.

After this, Zenit head coach Sergei Semak decided to speak out. He stated that Akhmetov was acquired by the club because he is a quality player and the holder of a Russian passport.

— Considering certain difficulties that we have with players with Russian passports, this is a good acquisition. The same applies to the economic component: this is a very profitable option for our club,” said Semak.

After all these picks, the footballer, through journalists, said goodbye to Krasnodar fans, asking them not to hold a grudge against him. The midfielder called for “understanding his situation and choice.” He stated that “everyone just goes their own way.”

It is noteworthy that Akhmetov will almost certainly receive the championship this season. After all, with a high degree of probability, only Krasnodar and Zenit will compete for him. Usually all players receive a gold medal, even those who left in the middle of the season.

Carrying out cleaning

The Leopards also began to be active in the transfer market. The other day, Sochi announced the termination by mutual consent of the contract with striker Ivan Ignatiev. The separation was more than expected: in the twelve matches that the footballer played this season in the Russian Premier League, he managed to score only two goals and also make one assist. It is unknown which club the Krasnodar graduate will go to.

Sochi also announced a separation from another striker, Georgy Melkadze. In this case, the employment agreement with the player was also terminated by mutual consent of the parties. Melkadze has not scored any goals this season. But at the same time, the media have already reported that the 26-year-old striker will sign a contract with Dynamo from Batumi.

Defender Artem Meshchaninov left Kurortnikov. The employment agreement with him was also terminated by mutual consent of the parties. The footballer took part in twenty-eight matches in all tournaments, in which he scored one goal.

Sochi also made its first acquisition in the current transfer window. The club announced the transfer of Zenit defender Dmitry Chistyakov on loan. The employment agreement with the thirty-year-old football player is valid until the end of the current season.

Chistyakov was born in 1994 in the Leningrad region. At first he played football in his hometown of Pikalevo, after which he moved to the Zenit academy. In the spring of 2012, he went to Rostov on loan, where he played only for the youth team. Returning to Zenit, he played mainly for the youth team, after which he ended up in Zenit-2, which began its journey to the Professional Football League from the West zone. In 2015, Zenit-2 entered the Football National League, Chistyakov made his debut in the first division in a match against Tosno (2: 1), but was soon loaned to the Armenian Mika. That season in Armenia, the footballer reached the final of the national Cup with his team. Returning to Russia, Chistyakov signed a contract with Shinnik, for which he played from 2016 to 2018. In total, he played 72 matches in the “black and blue” camp and scored six goals.

In the summer transfer window of 2018, Chistyakov moved to Tambov, with whom he won the Football National League. There he played 27 matches and scored three goals. In the summer of 2019, the defender signed a four-year contract with Rostov, on July 13th he made his debut in the Premier League in a home match against Orenburg, and on December 8th of the same year he scored his first goal in the Russian Premier League against Spartak.

In October 2020, Chistyakov returned to Zenit on loan. At the end of the 2020/21 season, he signed a full contract with the St. Petersburg club. In total, as a member of Zenit, Chistyakov won three championships and won the Russian Super Cup three times. In total, he played 82 matches for the “blue-white-blues”. In October 2021, the defender made his debut for the Russian national team in a match against Slovakia. In total, he played four matches for the national team.