Daler Kuzyaev signed a two-year contract with the debutant on Tuesday Ligue 1 Le Havre, was presented to the local press. The ex-midfielder of “Zenith” came to the presentation in a T-shirt, on which the word Pionnier was written. Translation is not required. Representing the newcomer to the club, the sports director of Le Havre, Mathieu Bodmer, did not skimp on compliments.
““ Kuzyaev can play “six”, “eight” or “ten”, in the position of a right midfielder or lateral,” Bodmer emphasized. “It was the kind of player we missed last season. Daler is a very ambitious person and has played at a club that has dominated the Russian league and played in the Champions League, all the while repeating that it is looking for new challenges in the European league.»
Fans of Le Havre, commenting on the transfer of the midfielder of the Russian national team, disagreed. Some believe that the former Zenit midfielder, whose transfer fee is estimated at 10 million euros and who was interested in several European clubs in the summer, will significantly strengthen the team. There are those who argue that Le Havre is exposing itself to financial risk. One of the fans was shocked not by the very fact of signing a contract with a newcomer to the French league, but by the fact that Kuzyaev did this after negotiations with Besiktas. Moreover, the leaders of the Turkish club stated that Daler had one foot in Istanbul.
The French press practically did not notice the transfer, which caused such a wide resonance in Russia. L'Equipe, the country's leading sports newspaper, published a small note on the transition, which also reported on other Le Havre transfers and the possible signing of a newcomer from Sochaux. The Parisian journalists were surprised by the transition to Le Havre, and not to Toulouse, where Kuzyaev was wooed by the Turkish media. father, Adyam, a well-known coach in St. Petersburg. — We did not advertise this option. Transfers love silence. The negotiations were very constructive.»
Russian agents were not involved in transfer issues. Got burned last time. Three years ago, Daler already tried to leave for Europe. According to mediators, clubs from Spain, Italy, Turkey and Scotland were interested in him. Only as a result, in October, when the championship of Russia had already started a long time ago, Kuzyaev signed a new contract with Zenit. As Adyam Kuzyaev noted, this time all issues were resolved in the family circle. Daler had the last word.
In «Zenith» Kuzyaev was considered one of the best connoisseurs of English among Russian football players. In Le Havre, he gave a press conference for French journalists without any problems. Daler also started learning Spanish, but now, of course, he switched to French. There is no doubt that the language barrier will not be a problem for adaptation in Ligue 1.
Kuzyaev was the highest paid Russian football player of the St. Petersburg club. According to a source familiar with the situation, the last contract, signed three years ago, guaranteed 2.5 million euros per season. In Le Havre, financial conditions will be more modest, but Daler has long wanted to try his hand at one of Europe's top leagues. Now such an opportunity presented itself to him.
As the footballer's father said, Daler did not consult with Alexander Golovin, who plays in France, before the start of negotiations with Le Havre. The club from Normandy, which won Ligue 2 last season and is seriously strengthening its squad before debuting in the elite French division, is not considered by the midfielder of the Russian national team as a mandatory step for moving to a stronger team.
«We liked how the representatives of Le Havre «We negotiated,» said Adyam Kuzyaev. «We felt interest from the head coach. The club is ambitious, sets serious goals. Ligue 1 is a very serious championship, and I do not exclude that Le Havre will become the same team for Daler as» Zenith».
“I respect Kuzyaev’s desire to try his hand at the top European championship,” said Alexander Gorshkov, who coached Daler at the Zenit academy. “He felt comfortable in the St. Petersburg club, he could sign a new contract on very favorable terms. Nevertheless, decided on a bold step. I can not say that, as a player in the youth team, Le Havre rookie dreamed of a European championship. Like other boys, he wanted, first of all, to break into professional football.
According to Gorshkov, Kuzyaev, who has adapted better than other Russian players to the current “Brazilian”, for the most part. «Zenith», there is every opportunity to adapt to French football. He may well become the leader of Le Havre. Although there are no and cannot be 100% guarantees.
«I understand that we will not fight for the title, but I want to try my hand at the European Championship, and France is the perfect choice for this. During a conversation with the coach, I understood his role in the team, his style of play… I liked it,” Kuzyaev quotes tendance ouest.
Of course, Kuzyaev is not Artem Dzyuba, who, having failed to gain a foothold in the Turkish club, blamed everyone except himself for this. Throughout his career, Daler literally gnawed out a place at the base with his teeth, first in Grozny, where Rashid Rakhimov helped him to open up, and then in Zenit. He went to France with the right attitude, while saying goodbye to his native St. Petersburg, Zenit and its fans in the highest degree professionally and kindly.
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editors.