In recent days have viralized scenes from the midfielder Gerson presentation event at Russia’s Zenit at Zenit, with the player on the stage with a seemingly surprised expression in front of the entire party with fireworks and dancers that took place in his surroundings.
More than the face of few friends of the Brazilian midfielder, the scene represents the growing interest of Russian clubs in South American football, in particular from the beginning of the war in Ukraine.
In the last four transfer windows since February 2022, when Vladimir Putin’s army broke into Ukrainian territory, Russian teams invested about R $ 1.5 billion – in inflation corrected – to take 52 athletes who stood out for teams from South America.
In the four previous windows, the expenses had been $ 830 million, involving ten athletes.
Contributed to the growing movement of Russian teams towards the South American clubs the economic sanctions imposed by European Union countries, with the doors closing for the negotiation of athletes with the European peers.
According to Mateus Silveira, a lawyer and a professor in international law, although there are no economic sanctions directly to Russian clubs, there are a number of measures that make EU companies and teams avoid doing business with the country.
Among them, the exclusion of Russian banks from the international financial system called SWIFT, the freezing of assets and the restrictions of access to the capital market.
“Russian tycoons were also prevented from having business in Europe, such as football teams. One example is from the current world champion, Chelsea, who was a Russian [Roman Abramovich] who had all his frozen assets in England and was forced to sell the club with the supervision of the English government. “
Exceptional rules in the FIFA transfers regulation also provided that foreign athletes or technicians linked to Russian or Ukrainian clubs could detach themselves through the unilateral suspension of their contracts.
Under the mechanism of FIFA, the teams began to suffer from several athletes exits. Striker Yuri Alberto and side Ayrton Lucas were loaned by Zenit and Spartak Moscow to Corinthians and Flamengo, respectively, while defender Vitão and midfielder Pedrinho, then in Shakhtar Donetsk, migrated to Internacional and Atlético Mineiro.
To be able to replace the exits and reinforce their casts, the Russian teams had to turn their focus to South America.
In the windows aiming at the 2023/24 and 2024/25 seasons, the Russian clubs hit the investment record to take athletes from South American teams.
According to data from the Transfermarkt website, there were 17 hires in each window, with a total investment added to approximately R $ 1 billion.
“The reduction in the volume of transfers from European club players to Russia and the increase in the number of South American players moving to the country may be more associated with other war-derived factors, such as financial flow restrictions and EU’s commercial barriers,” said Marcel Belfiore, Sports Law specialist and partner of Ambiel Bonilha Advogados.
In the current window, which continues to open until September 11, Gerson was the most expensive hiring, with Zenit disbursing 25 million euros (R $ 162.5 million) to take the midfielder from Flamengo.
The Argentine left-back Román Vega, who left Argentines Juniors for 7.7 million euros (R $ 50 million), also towards Zenit, and the jewel of Cotia Matheus Alves, negotiated by CSKA for 5.1 million euros (R $ 33.1 million).
In the previous window, Zenit had also been responsible for taking Luiz Henrique, one of the highlights of Botafogo Brazilian champion and the Copa Libertadores. The performance in Alvinegro took the striker to the national team, but he has not yet been called from the transfer to Russia.
Despite the move to Russian football to make the player farther from the spotlight, former midfielder Dudu Cearense disagrees with those who believe that acting in the country eliminates the chances of the athlete being remembered by the Brazilian coach.
With a time of almost four years at CSKA of Moscow, between 2005 and 2008, he followed in the period being called to defend the hopscotch, both by Carlos Alberto Parreira and Dunga.
“Some called me crazy when I transferred [para o CSKA]. The first six months were very difficult to adapt to culture, cold, but then I had a good experience, “he told Sheet The former player, who today operates in the financial market ahead of the Okto Investimentos office, with about $ 100 million under advice.
Overcoming the initial difficulties in the Russian capital, Dudu settled in the midfield of a team that still had Brazilians Daniel Carvalho and Vágner Love, also summoned to the selection during the CSKA passage. “We broke a market where few believed.”
For the club, there were 97 matches and eight goals, with the two -time championship of the Russian league, the Cup and the Russian Super Cup, as well as participation in the Champions League.
According to the former midfielder, the player may end up being more likely to be summoned if he is part of a champion team in Russia than playing in Spain or Italy, but in a team that usually oscillates in the middle of the table.
“An athlete like Gerson could wait another year, until the Cup [de 2026]then seek transfer to a large center? It may be, but what if halfway he has a serious injury? We don’t know … A year can be an eternity in football, “said Dudu.
He added that because of the investments for the World Cup in Russia in 2018, today players have structures far above those available at their time, with modern and good -quality training centers and training centers.
“Regardless of war, there are no violence in the country. The streets in Moscow are all controlled by cameras,” said Dudu, who was recently in the city in honor of CSKA to former players who made history for the club.
Director of Roc Nation Sports in Brazil, a company that manages the career of players such as Vinicius Junior, Endrick and Gabriel Martinelli, Thiago Freitas stated that most athletes aspiras interested in their appreciation and monetary gains they will have in the future.
“If they can get larger gains than they hoped to have with the calls, there is no reason to refuse these offers.”
He added that, knowing that his career has relatively short shelf life, players tend to adopt a very pragmatic posture.
“Your greatest priorities are usually how much money you can earn and how much money you will have to retire.”
“It is true that the wages and awards that the teams offer are tempting, but I don’t think that’s just what players have a desire to play there,” said Claudio Fiorito, CEO of P&P Sport Management Brazil, a company that manages the career of coach Simone Inzaghi and striker Lukaku.
“The conditions of the country and structure are as rich as other European countries.”
Most expensive players in South America bought by Russian teams
- Luiz Henrique – 33 million euros
- Gerson – 25 million euros
- Yuri Alberto – 25 million euros
- Artur – 15 million euros
- Lame – 12 million euros
- Luciano Gondou – 12 million euros
