Mario Fernandez returned to Russia. «Zenith» announced the signing of a contract with the former defender of CSKA under the «1+1» scheme. This transition looks like a setback for both teams. Everyone lost. And first of all — football.
Muddy Brazilian history A year ago, Mario Fernandez suddenly suspended his career and left Russia. The naturalized Brazilian wrote a touching farewell letter to the club and fans, swore eternal love and referred to family circumstances. Family, children, native Brazil — he gave CSKA the best ten years of his career and fully deserved the right to rest. Everyone, and first of all the club, reacted to the departure of Fernandez with understanding and wished him to return one day.
But the pause was short-lived. After taking a break from football for a couple of months, Mario began to look for a new club in his homeland. Already in the autumn there were rumors about a possible contract with Santos, and in the winter Fernandez became a player of Internacional. CSKA gave the go-ahead, the player promised to return to Russia later, and the Brazilian club took the defender on loan for a year.
But Mario hardly played for the Porto Alegre club. The team managed to play a dozen games in the state championship, Fernandez was only four times in the starting lineup — and in April he suddenly terminated the contract. The player again had personal reasons for this, and the Internacional website emphasized that the club would receive compensation for this.
And then the most interesting thing began — Mario wanted to return to Russia. In CSKA, of course, where everyone was very happy about the return of the veteran. But there was one small snag — for the transition, the club had to pay compensation to Internacional for the very breach of the contract by the player.
CSKA made a logical statement that it was not going to pay for its own player. Moreover, the club had nothing to do with breaking Mario's contract with the Brazilians. But no one else was going to pay this compensation, and the return of Fernandez to CSKA quickly became impossible.
After the news about the transition to Zenit, a lot became clear. And why was this loan story needed, and strange suspensions and terminations of contracts, and an attempt to demand compensation from CSKA. The puzzle was formed — so Fernandez moved to a rich and almost Brazilian club for free on very good terms, which the «soldiers» would not have offered him.
A transfer that no one needs A big contract at the end is a logical desire for most football players. The age of a football player is short and if there is an opportunity to earn money, then it is foolish not to use it. The only question is how to do it.
A year ago, CSKA went to meet Mario, letting him go to Brazil, then gave the go-ahead for a loan — and now the footballer is actually leaving the club and going to a direct competitor, although a couple of years ago he said that in Russia he would play only for the “army”. Fernandez enjoyed immense respect from fans not only of CSKA, but also of other clubs, and now he has crossed everything out with one act. Was it worth it to do so, even for the sake of big money?
It is also not very clear why this transfer is “Zenith”. Yes, Mario is a great player, but in September he will be 33, he has not played football for a year and it is not known what form he is in now. Age and sores make themselves felt — in recent years, Fernandez regularly missed matches due to injuries and even managed to get injured on loan in Brazil.
At the same time, St. Petersburg has no problems with the right flank of the defense. Vyacheslav Karavaev plays there, younger and almost as good as Fernandez in the class. It is strange to put him on the bench, as well as to sign an age-old footballer with a large salary on the bench. Moreover, there are already Alexei Sutormin and Arsen Adamov on the bench, who will no longer get chances at all.
Well, CSKA also lost. The team successfully closed the right flank with Serb Milan Gajic, but there is practically no alternative to him. And Fernandez, with his size, could well play in the center of defense, thus closing two positions at once. And it's just unpleasant to lose a good player who completes his wonderful history at the club with such an act.
But football lost most of all. This situation is another proof that money rules in football. Loyalty, fidelity to flowers, love for the club are empty words that can always be forgotten. Nobody is interested in playing football. Everyone is only interested in money. And this kills a great game.
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editors.