On Wednesday evening, St. Petersburg “Zenith” held one of the most important matches in the summer of the Russian championship calendar - against CSKA. And the day before this meeting, a new appointment took place, which summarizes the changes in the leadership of the club from the banks of the Neva: the famous Russian agent Konstantin Sarsaniya became its sports director. Izvestia correspondent Yuri Dud spoke to him about the details of all the summer permutations in the team.Question: Who, besides the Lawyer, could lead Zenit?
answer: There were several candidates, I will only say about those that are known to me. First, Otmar Hitzfeld was discussed. But he did not want to: he immediately said that he was not interested in the proposal from Russia. In addition, there were a Frenchman, Claude Puell, and our Anatoly Byshovets. However, in terms of title, ambition and reputation, they decided to choose a lawyer.
Q : Was it difficult to convince a lawyer to come to Petersburg?
A: The problem was that he had on hand a contract with the Korean national team, and also aroused interest in many European clubs. At first, I just had to find out if he had an interest in Russia. I called him and heard the phrase: "Well, you can talk." We flew to Holland with Sergei Fursenko (president of Zenit. - Izvestia ), where our conversation took place. After us, two English clubs of not the first five turned to him and the Dutch PSV - the team that he made the champion. In the end, his role was played by the fact that he knew Russia and that Gazprom is a non-poor company that wants to make a really strong club out of Zenit. Then we sent him five or six games with team matches. “If the leaders remain, I will work there,” the lawyer summed up.
in: The possibility that the “Zenith” will leave her main scorer Alexander Kerzhakov, really existed?
A: There was. Six months ago, at the UEFA Cup match with Bolton, the Tottenham director offered very good money for Kerzhakov - more than 5 million euros. But then-president of Zenit David Traktovenko did not want to sell his lead forward. The same thing happened now - with Lyon, Marseille, Rennes and Seville, we did not even negotiate, because we did not want to sell Kerzhakov.
Q: Many fans believe that you start the rumors about interest in Kerzhakov from abroad yourself in order to improve the terms of your player’s contract ...
A: People think so, because Sasha can’t leave in any way. But when he leaves, they will be the first to shout: "How so, they sold our lead player!" Everyone who led and leads Zenit are afraid to part with the best footballer. If you sell it, then you need to build a new team. Zenit has other tasks now. And to check the reality of interest, say, “Seville”, you need to call the local journalists who just a month ago simply tore me and Sasha with phone calls regarding his move to Spain. Not just the same they got excited.
Q : Was Italian striker Lucarelli considered among potential Zenit newcomers as a replacement for Kerzhakov?
about: No! Like another cool forward. We are very dependent on the pair Arshavin - Kerzhakov. When they don’t have a game, the team does not score. In addition, the lawyer believes that Arshavin may look even better in the position of a drawn forward. In this case, “Zenith” needs another driving forward like Lucarelli. But he did not dare to go to us. For his Livorno, he is more than half a team. The pressure went from the fans, and, apparently, to leave at the moment when his team got the right to play in the UEFA Cup, he was simply afraid.
Q: 19-year-old Ilya Maksimov, already coming out in the main team of “Zenith”, is this your player?
about: Yes. A very talented soccer player who was a leader in the youth team. In the manner of the game, it is much like Yegor Titov. It is not surprising that the Moscow “Spartak” is very interested in him.
Q: The most common rumor about your transfer to an official position at Zenit is now that it will be much easier for you to push into the composition of the players whose agent you are ...
A: Yes, this is impossible! Today, a coach works in the team, who must give a result and does not allow anyone to the team at all. If a player does not meet the level, how will he achieve the result? What would you think that I pushed into the composition of Maximov? He is a good player and he made his way to the base. In addition, the lawyer is such a person that he will not work with those players that he does not like. And it does not matter what agent this footballer works with.
Yuri DUD