“Only the most talented players manage to increase their earnings”

CSKA football striker Fedor Chalov is close to moving to Zenit, sports media report. The red-blue forward cannot agree with the management of his current club regarding his salary. The army team offers Chalov €3 million a year, the player’s agent insists on €4 million. The transfer value of the football player, according to the Transfermarkt portal, is €12 million. Is Zenit ready to pay such a serious amount for a Russian football player, a Kommersant FM sports commentator was looking into “Vladimir Osipov.

Many football players dream of a salary increase, but only the most talented players manage to seriously increase their earnings, and even then not always. Now the figure in Chalov’s contract with CSKA is an impressive €1.2 million. Fedor is 25 years old, there is more than one season of performances at the professional level ahead, and the red and blue are ready to more than double their forward’s income. But the player’s agent is trying to negotiate more.

The army club has already stated that they are not ready to pay Chalov €4 million. After this, according to tradition, two options for the development of events appear, which are reported by the media: either the player moves to Zenit or to some European club. But, to be honest, the European version can be dismissed out of hand. For example, Daler Kuzyaev, who moved to Le Havre, earns €350 thousand; only Alexander Golovin in Monaco receives €3.5 million from Russians in Europe. So the path to the old world for Russian football players lies only through a reduction in wages.

At the same time, the political situation will not be a problem, football agent Vadim Trushkov, who lives and works in Paris, told Kommersant FM: “People think, somewhere, something was not agreed upon, again our beloved defenseless people were offended, they were not allowed in, sanctions, but this is nonsense. If you reduce the desired amount by two to four times, our players will be hired. If you categorically ask for the same salary or higher, nothing will happen.”

But judging by the bargaining going on with CSKA, Fyodor Chalov does not agree to a serious salary reduction, which means there is only one way – to Zenit. But there is a nuance here: Chalov’s contract is signed until the end of this year, and Zenit is ready to take the player only as a free agent, that is, for free. In addition, the richest club in the country conducts an active transfer policy, buying up talented Brazilians of all ages, and it is difficult for a Russian representative to break into the first team here. Football expert and coach Alexander Grigoryan believes that talented Russians are being lost in St. Petersburg:

“Not all Russians at Zenit are progressing. But I would pluck up the nerve and say that in general, very few Russians at Zenit are progressing.”

But €4 million a year is a serious amount, this is exactly the salary of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia at Napoli, and one of the leaders of the Real Sociedad club, Takefusa Kubo, receives only €2 million. And by the way, when the Al-Nasr club from Saudi Arabia, for which Cristiano Ronaldo plays, offered the Japanese €40 million a year, but he refused. But this is so, a lyrical digression. In the Russian championship, everything is different, and the question of money for our players made Alexander Mostovoy, who played in Spain for many years, smile: “They still say that, it turns out, money is not the main thing, but money has long ago become the most important thing.”

In addition, in the history of Chalov’s transition from CSKA to Zenit, one way or another, another point will emerge. The fact is that the richest club in the country can afford to buy leading players from other clubs simply to weaken their competitors. So every football player, signing a contract with Zenit for a serious fee, must be prepared to be left not just without playing practice, but also without the opportunity to change teams. Commentator Konstantin Genich focuses on this: “The most interesting thing is that they all want to play and leave the club to get playing practice, but Zenit won’t let them go. You’ve already signed, left a flourish and that’s it.”

So, most likely, despite the agent’s appetites, Fedor Chalov will still sign a new contract with CSKA. In this case, by the way, he will become the highest paid player in the army club. At the moment, the legendary goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev receives the most from the red and blue team in the country, his salary is €2.6 million per year.

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