When news of Aleksandr Kokorin’s move to Zenit St. Petersburg broke two days ago there was celebration from the fans of the Russian Premier League holders. Zenit managed to secure arguably Russia’s greatest footballing prospect for the small fee of €2.5m from Dinamo Moscow which also included the fee for his fellow Dinamo player Yuri Zhirkov, quite frankly this is an absolute bargain. With his contract due to expire in a few months, Kokorin had the freedom to pick and choose a club which was willing to meet his high wage demands. It is rumoured that the former Anzhi man will earn around €3.5m a year at Zenit which puts him up with the club’s top earners.
I am torn, for Zenit this is a great signing but for the future of Russian football I cannot help but feel this is a bad move.
Kokorin’s projected earnings at Zenit St. Petersburg - Courtesy of Р-Спорт.
Kokorin had the perfect chance to move abroad and test himself in a better league against superior players to those in the Russian Premier League. However, Kokorin knew that in Russia, due to the 6+5 rule, players with Russian passports are in high demand and command large wages. One cannot blame the 24 year old for wanting a big pay packet and it should be the system blamed rather than the player but this deal does call his ambition into question.
It seems Kokorin has now missed his last chance to move abroad. The Russian international has been involved in four transfers in his career and he seems to have moved sideways rather than upwards with each one. The Anzhi project was always destined to fail so he moved back to the comfort zone of Dinamo Moscow where he was their highest earner. Now that he is near the top of Zenit’s wage bill, he will probably never move abroad as clubs will not want to gamble on a player who seems less likely to reach his potential by the day. His Russian passport will only add more zeroes onto the fee and thus further prevent Kokorin from testing himself at a better level.
It is common knowledge that Russian players have failed abroad despite glittering starts and perhaps Kokorin wanted to err on the side of caution in this regard. However, if things had not worked out, he would have easily secured himself a great contract back in Russia, just like all his other compatriots.
Kokorin failed to play a single game at Anzhi Makhachkala before moving back to Dinamo Moscow.
Whilst Zenit are undoubtedly an ambitious club, they cannot help the fact that they play mediocre opposition on a weekly basis and it is only in Europe where they play teams of real quality. Whilst Zenit harbour ambitions of becoming a great European club, they are unlikely to break into this top bracket for a number of years. Whilst the 6+5 rule seems a good idea in principle, it arguably stops Russian sides from becoming serious European contenders and Kokorin will suffer from not playing regularly against top quality sides and opponents.
A further question to be asked of Kokorin’s move is how he will fit into Zenit’s system. The front four of Dzyuba, Shatov, Hulk and Danny picks itself at the moment. The reason Zenit are down in 6th place at the halfway stage of the season is not down to the attack but the defence. The Blue, White and Navys are the top goalscorers in the league with 34 goals and there is no reason to change a forward combination which is currently working.
It is probably a fair argument to say that captain Danny would be the most likely to drop out of the team as the 32 year old will probably leave next summer, barring a repeat of last year’s shottck new contract. However, I imagine that this season manager Andre Villas Boas will stick with the loyal Danny and Kokorin will sit on the bench, probably playing only because to the restrictions on foreign players.
We will more likely see him playing regularly next season, probably on the left hand side with Oleg Shatov moving into the position behind the striker. It is interesting to note that during a discussion about the national team on the latest RFN Podcast, both writers omitted Kokorin from their starting XI. Additionally, he was ranked down in 25th place in our Top 50 Russian Premier League list. Kokorin certainly fits into the bracket of too much expected too early.
Overall this transfer makes perfect sense for Zenit, they have secured the signature of Russia’s prodigy and if he is to reach his potential, it will probably be in St. Petersburg. If the club were to eventually sell him then they would be able to command a large fee, probably a Russian transfer record. Unfortunately for Russia, this parallel move has probably stopped Kokorin becoming a great player.
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Thank you for the article.
I began reading thinking that this article was about how Russian talents shouldn’t cluster in one club, Zenit. But, it’s mainly not. I just couldn’t read through it all because I see this mentality of “go abroad = good”, “stay in Russia = bad” as misguided on soooo many levels. For example, taking local talent away from their league will NEVER strengthen their league because they are no longer in it, and half-assed foreign players with double the wages will not help the harmony, nor increase the level of Russian league, and above all will distrupt the unique style of Russian football. Another example, your article from a few weeks back that spoke about Arshavin and co. in their off-land failed ventures clearly show how badly foreigners think of Russian footballers by never even giving the Russian players chances to play regardless of how amazing they are, Arshavin scoring 4 goals in one game is not enough for Arsenal to play him more, Pavlenchinko scoring once every 2 matches is also not enough… Karyaka was also monster in the Russian league and went to Portugal to become a bench warmer…
I don’t want to clutter this page with my ramblings about how much I hate this mentality of increasing foreign players and throwing Russian talents into leagues that don’t even consider playing them.
Hi Yasir,
Thank you for the comment on our article. I can see where you are coming from regarding league development. However, I believe that despite what you say about the foreign players not caring, it can be argued that this is in fact the attitude of many Russian players in the league who know they are pretty secure in their contracts thanks to 6+5 which is bad. Thanks to the limit, foreign players should be the top players in the team which can only benefit the clubs, of course this will become even more important next season when the rule tightens with 5+6. Many Russian players are not selected on talent but on passport which makes the league less competitive.
I would not say it is bad to stay in Russia, far from it. I love Russian football as much as you do and love to see top players come to the league and settle as well as seeing Russian talents developing. However, it is naive to think that the Russian Premier League will become a top European league any time soon. Most of the clubs are far too insecure financially to attract great foreign talents, just look at Dinamo, Anzhi and Kuban. This of course means all the top players, Russian and foreign, go to only a couple of clubs which again makes the league less competitive.
I just feel Kokorin should have gone and tested himself in a better league, with 2018 so soon on the horizon it seems like the perfect opportunity to showcase his skills before the tournament where he will be the poster boy. The Russian league will not improve that dramatically by 2018 so the Russian players, like Kokorin, will not be able to test themselves at the really top level unless they move abroad to other leagues such as Germany, Spain, Italy and England. Even if they signed for a mid table team in these leagues, they would be playing against better players every week as opposed to in Russia.
I would object to your point about Russian players abroad. I think they have been poor. You have said yourself about Arshavin - one game, other than that he was incredibly inconsistent. Pavlyuchenko is a strange one as, despite his good goal ratio, he rarely started ahead of Defoe, Crouch and Keane. His problem was probably that he had incidents with coaching staff which didn’t help.
Karyaka again had problems and went about them the wrong way in going public. Benfica achieved two 3rd place finishes during his time there so perhaps Karyaka was not good enough.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the content of our website.
Hello again,
I never expected to receive any replies…. 😮 I am wondering about my older comments in other articles.
Thank you so much for taking the time to write such a comprehensive response. This website is growing to become a favorite of mine : )
First, I must admit that I cannot be as informed as you are about the Russian league, since I do not speak Russia, nor do I live in Russia, nor do I watch matches -any longer.
Second, just to give you a slight background of my relationship with the Russian league. I started watching the Russian league back in 2003, when CSKA took the league. I saw almost every match for the next 3~5 years, and also witnessed the glory of CSKA and Zenit lifting the UEFA cups. And, I also saw the amazing header by Evseev that took Russia into Euro 2004, and saw the blunder of Euro 2004.
Now to respond to your kind comments:
“you say about the foreign players not caring”, I never said that. I said low quality with high price tags. I remember Lima in Loko back in 2004. He was one of the most incredible centeral midfielders I have ever seen, I can guess he didn’t cost half the average cost of foreign players now. I believe Shakhtar has an effective model. Bring cheap young foreign talents as future investments.
“6+5 limit”, I am a firm believer that the limit of foreign player being smaller is better for the league, 3+8 is my number. I cannot comment on the attitudes of Russian players NOW, because I don’t watch it any more. But, 2008’s Zenit is a good example. As for the attitudes, there are better ways to make the players feel insecure and thrive for more than to increase the foreign limit and do what teams are doing now, forgetting Russian players on the bench, and simply buying new foreign players.
To be honest, 2008 for me was the beginning of the end for Russian football. Home grown players, except for Ivan Saenko, showed the world how beautiful Russian football is. 8 out of 11 Russian players in Zenit that same year plowed through top flight teams, Bayren Munchen, Leverkusen, Marcille..etc.
“However, it is naive to think that the Russian Premier League will become a top European league any time soon”, I am afraid I don’t see why. Russia took 3rd place in Euro 2008. Keep repeating what you did back then and you will get there.
“This of course means all the top players, Russian and foreign, go to only a couple of clubs which again makes the league less competitive.”, NFL has a limit on salaries to prevent this from happening. Apply something similar.
“I just feel Kokorin should have gone and tested himself in a better league, with 2018 so soon on the horizon it seems like the perfect opportunity to showcase his skills before the tournament where he will be the poster boy.”, you are totally right here, with the catch being is that him not being a bench warmer and getting regular play. The Russian league is in shambles now. And, its hard to see it getting any better before 2018. So, might as well take a gamble with current talents going abroad. The main fear here is this becoming the norm…
“I would object to your point about Russian players abroad. I think they have been poor.”, now here is where we disagree completely. The mentality abroad is the problem, not the players. (PERIOD)
Arshavin, a marvel as a shadow striker, gets forced to be a left winger. He pleaded so many times about how this wasn’t his position, yet making many assists as much as he has been played, rarely was a starter.
“Pavlyuchenko is a strange one as, despite his good goal ratio, he rarely started ahead of Defoe, Crouch and Keane.”, exactly. The mentality about Russian players is broken, not the players.
“Karyaka again had problems and went about them the wrong way in going public.”, I don’t remember the problems. But, I remember watching every Benfica match waiting for him to be played, and I only saw him once.
“Benfica achieved two 3rd place finishes during his time there so perhaps Karyaka was not good enough.”, if they had played him as they should have they might have taken 2nd or even 1st place.
Anyway, sorry if any of my replies seem blunt, its all fun and games. I really enjoy reading your articles. And, I really appreciate your work in bringing comprehensive news in English to us on a regular basis. UEFA.com used to be a great resource 10 years ago. But, then they stopped…
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