“Zenit has seriously reduced its payroll” – Kommersant FM

This winter, football clubs around the world spent about €1.5 billion on player purchases, FIFA reports. Russian clubs occupy tenth place on this list – RPL teams paid about €70 million for newcomers. Is this a lot for domestic football? Kommersant FM sports commentator Vladimir Osipov looked into it.

“Money doesn’t play football, but without it you can’t win anything,” – who said this wise phrase is now impossible to find out, but it is heard often and, one might say, has become the motto for many RPL clubs, at least the rich ones. In terms of winter spending, Zenit is ahead of the rest of Russia, of course, having paid €30 million for players. This is, for a minute, the fifth highest result in Europe.

It is clear that European clubs saved money this time, but the current champion of the Russian Federation, as usual, did not, but the fact remains a fact. The next batch of Brazilians should lead the club from St. Petersburg to another title. Imagine, over the past ten years, Zenit has spent almost €400 million on transfers. For example, for Spartak this expense item amounted to just over €200 million.

But if earlier the serious expenses of Russian teams on players were justified, then it is not clear why they should buy expensive foreign players now, football manager Yuri Belous noted: “You need to understand why the money is being spent. It’s one thing if our leading clubs wanted to rise in European competition, it’s another thing when we are stewing inside the Russian championship. And is there any point in going to such expenses? Maybe it’s better to give space for young players to take places in the teams?”

Clubs that actively buy football players from other countries are incurring serious losses, at least this winter. Don’t forget about the high salaries in Russian football, adds Yuri Belous: “As a rule, about 50% of the club’s total budget is wages. Can you imagine how many tens and hundreds of millions are spent by all the Premier League teams on this?”

However, it is worth saying that Zenit, which still pays its players the most, seriously reduced their wages with the departure of Malcolm, who received €7 million a year. Today’s stars, acquired in winter, receive significantly less. Striker Arthur – €3 million, and young talent Pedro, also from Brazil, €1.25 million. In general, to face the truth, salaries in the RPL have dropped seriously. Previously, the best football players in Russia received €2-3 million a year and even more, but now even €1 million can be considered a good option.

But as for the management of Russian clubs, it is still not up to par, football agent Dmitry Selyuk, who lives and works in Spain, is sure: “They put in charge a football player who, at best, has read the primer or the book “Kolobok”, and they think that such a leader will achieve something. But how is it possible? After all, there must be, at a minimum, either a lawyer who knows the laws, or a business executive who not only makes money, but also brings income to a club that knows how to make money.”

Of course, not everyone agrees with such a harsh opinion, but so far much that is happening with Russian football has been criticized. Whatever one may say, the fact that the level of the championship has seriously declined is recognized even by officials. Perhaps the situation will change when our clubs have the opportunity to show themselves in European competitions, but so far this issue has not gone further than talk.

So we are waiting for the return of the RPL, where the main contender for gold for many years in a row has been Zenit, again staffed to the maximum by Brazilians.

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