Vadim KuznetsovSport correspondentAll materialsScandal footballer Ivan Ignatiev has signed a contract with Lokomotiv Moscow. He is only 23, but it seems that he will not get another such chance. The sport remembers how the striker went from a favorite of the coaches to their constant problem. And how great it all started. At the age of 18, Ignatiev became the top scorer in the youth championship, scoring 21 goals in 23 matches. The following season, he was the top scorer in the UEFA Youth League with 10 goals, although Krasnodar didn't even make it to the group stage. Debut for the main team of southerners in the championship of Russia — and immediately the winning goal! Away, stoppage time. The first match in adult European competition — and scored again. He runs well, hits with both feet, is quite technical and opens up great. And most importantly, scores! In his first full season in the Premier League, Ignatiev scored 7 goals in 20 appearances and added a couple in the National Cup.It seemed that a promising young striker appeared in Russia, who certainly would not repeat the mistakes of those others who were lost during the transition from budding to mature personalities. But that bright flash remains the best period in Ignatiev's career so far. The transfer to Rubin from Krasnodar for 7 million euros in December 2019, despite the secrets that surrounded the deal, was not a bad idea for the player and his agent. It was even useful for Ignatiev to break out of the usual conditions and throw a new challenge, and Leonid Slutsky, who had worked in the Netherlands by that time with young players, was waiting for him in Kazan, talented partners like Khvichi Kvaratskhelia and Denis Makarov, as well as not the highest competition. Rubin needed scoring players, and the striker would definitely get enough playing time. In Kazan, they already figured out how many goals the newcomer would bring them and how profitable it would be to sell it to a richer club in 2-3 years, but in the end this deal became one one of the worst in the history of Rubin, and Ignatiev himself did not show himself on the football fields during this period. Do not consider several balls from the penalty spot and positive feedback from Slutsky as a success, who noted how good Ivan was in training.
