Winger of the Slovenian national team Benjamin Verbić has changed Dynamo Kyiv to Greek Panathinaikos. The Slovenian took advantage of the UEFA rule that allows him to suspend contracts for legionnaires from Ukraine and Russia for a year. Verbich had an agreement with the people of Kiev until the end of 2022, so Igor Surkis will not receive anything for the player.
Benjamin Verbic. Photo: komandaonline.comSubstitution Yarmolenko
At the end of the 2017 summer transfer window, Dynamo lost their leader Andriy Yarmolenko. The transition was unexpected and took place thanks to the domino principle. PSG bought Neymar from Barcelona. The Catalans were looking for a replacement for the Brazilian and signed the French national team player Ousmane Dembele from Borussia Dortmund. In both cases, the amount of compensation in the contract was activated. The German grandee had to find a replacement for Dembele in a short time. Dortmund was able to quickly agree with Dynamo on the transfer of Yarmolenko.
In a short time, Igor Surkis did not dare to look for a replacement for Yarmolenko. There have already been examples when, having lost Roman Eremenko, the people of Kiev signed Duda and Escobar... The then mentor of the people of Kiev, Oleksandr Khatskevich, spent the first part of the season with Viktor Tsyhankov and Derlis Gonzalez, with the support of Mykola Morozyuk and Vitaliy Buyalsky, who also played on the right flank of midfield. During the fall, it was necessary to find a suitable candidate in order to strengthen the team in the winter.
The choice fell on the midfielder of the Slovenian national team and Copenhagen Benjamin Verbic. The fact is that Verbic's contract with the Danish team was valid for another one and a half seasons. Copenhagen was ready to sell their footballer so as not to lose him for free later. Benjamin wanted to change teams and have a better contract. Taxes in Denmark eat up a significant part of the big earnings.
Lucescu is not needed
Verbic immediately joined the Ukrainian team. The Slovenian quickly adapted to life in Ukraine and became one of the team leaders. The "wings" of the Verbich-Tsygankov attack were the main strength of Alexander Khatskevich's team.
Verbich felt very good in the power Ukrainian football. Somewhere in the same environment, he performed in Denmark. Fast, technical, he feels good in power struggles and plays on the second floor - we must pay tribute to Ognjen Vukoevich, who then worked in the selection department of the club and initiated the invitation of the Slovenian to Kyiv. For Verbic, our climatic conditions did not become a problem, because he played in Slovenia and Denmark. In terms of adaptation, everything was also good. He learned the language and became his own in the team. He immediately became friends with the Pole Tomasz Kendziora, who helped him in his adaptation and himself was in the role of an actual newcomer.
For the first six months, Benjamin looked very strong. He literally gnawed the ground on the field and gave all his strength. It seemed that he would become the new leader of the team. But there was no continuation. Somewhere problems with motivation started. It seemed that Verbic realized that Dynamo was not always possible to play to the fullest. Becoming a champion or playing in the Champions League is good, but the salary is good anyway. Periodic health problems began. Verbic, like most Dynamo players, needed a coach who could take him to a new level.
It seemed that Lucescu could become such. But the experienced Romanian did not seriously count on the Slovene. The main player on the left flank of midfield almost immediately became Carlos De Pena. Mircea understood that the Uruguayan was no longer young and the position on the flank needed to be rotated, so he invited Vitinho to the team. The Brazilian adapted in the fall and by the end of the first part of the season began to show his strengths. He scored a lot at the training camp and should have become the leading player of the team, if not for the war.
Verbic actually missed the first season under Lucescu due to injuries. I went out for separate segments, but did not show anything special. Mircea used Benjamin more at the cutting edge, where problems arose due to the disqualification of Artem Besedin.
Nothing changed last season - Verbic was injured a lot and lost the competition. The footballer's contract was valid until the summer of 2022, but no one was in a hurry to renew it. Benjamin will be 29 years old in the fall, he has many injuries and is losing the competition. It makes no sense in such conditions to offer long-term contracts or at least duplicate previous financial conditions. If not for the war, then Verbic would have left the team on July 1, 2022. Dynamo did not absolutely hold on to the player.
The war and the loss of most of the legionnaires made it possible for Benjamin to once again convince Lucescu of his qualifications and talents. Moreover, Verbich had playing practice for the second part of the season, playing for the Polish Legia. But the matches against Fenerbahce in the Champions League qualification showed that the Slovenian is clearly not up to par. In Lodz, Verbic showed nothing at all, although he tried very hard. And in Istanbul he was replaced at the beginning of the game due to damage. After he left the field, the team lost nothing. There is no point in holding on to a foreigner with a big salary, who is no longer young, traumatic and not quite suitable for a coach.
The loss of Verbic will not be a tragedy for Dynamo
Lucescu professes a team game, so the loss of one player should not be a big problem. For Dynamo, the loss of Verbic is the problem of the number of players. Mirchi's choice is getting smaller.
If I were asked for three years, who will be the main left midfielder of Dynamo? I would answer without hesitation - Artem Shulyansky. But he has not yet been able to realize his talent, although he made big advances at the youth level. Injuries, poor form - as a result, Artyom became a full-fledged player for Oleksandria. There are no more young players for this position in the club's system. It was not in vain that last year Samba Diallo was invited to take the place of the left midfielder.
During charity matches and the Champions League qualification, Lucescu used Vlad Vanat and Denis Antyukh in this position. These two players should replace Verbic in the team.
Antyukh was taken to the team last summer. Luchesk liked him during the matches against Kolos. With physical qualities, Denis is already doing well, but in technical terms, understanding of the game, individual skill needs to be added. Denis did not spend much time in the team to draw any conclusions. The first part of the last season was spent on adaptation. Now the native of Akhtyrka will get a chance to gain a foothold in the starting lineup of the team.
Vanat is a forward, but during charity matches Lucescu used him as a left midfielder. In matches against Fenerbahce, Vlad took this position, replacing Verbic. It can be assumed that it is Vanat who will become the main candidate for this position. There is Besedin ahead, Garmash can play in the attack line. So far, the fate of Supryaga has not been decided. But on the left, the vacancy is free. Vlad has the skills to play this position. We see that Lucescu trusts him.
Thus, Dynamo will get a young left flank that has no experience in international matches Dubinchak-Vanat, or Vivcharenko-Vanat. In the second half in Istanbul, the hosts' mentor Jorge Jesus tried to push there, but everything held out.
It looks like Karavaev will play in midfield again. On the right flank of the defense, Kendzer and there are still Tymchik and Kravchenko. On the opposite flank of the defense are Dubinchak and Vivcharenko. But there are not enough players on the flanks of the attack. Karavaev never played on the left. But this position is not alien to Tsygankov. Therefore, Lucescu can use Karavaev and Tsygankov as the main pair of flank midfielders.
It is possible that from time to time other players will close this position. If necessary, Garmash or Buyalsky can play here. Once Shepelev was tried as a flank player. Lucescu will definitely have some choice.
Transfer to Panathinaikos - the desire to get the last big contract in his career
For four and a half years at Dynamo, no one was particularly interested in Verbich. There were talks about clubs from Serie A. They attributed interest to the Slovenian from Bayer. They wrote that in the winter Benjamin could return to Copenhagen, but he himself rejected this offer. In Ukraine, Verbich had a reputation as a player who could be successful at the level of middle peasants and outsiders. In international matches or games against Shakhtar, Benjamin did not stand out in any way.
For the second part of last season, Verbic played for the struggling Legia. In not the strongest Polish league, Benjamin did not perform a single effective action during the spring. I understand that he didn’t have time after the start of the war, he didn’t go through training camps with the team, but not to score anything, not to give away and not to have a stable place in the squad at the level of Poland is already too much.
The Slovenian national team, despite the increase in the number of participants in the Euro and the opportunities of the League of Nations, does not make it to the finals of major tournaments. At the level of the national team, Verbic has not shown anything for a long time. The player's level is not high. The history of injuries, the lack of great ambitions led to this state of affairs.
In autumn, Verbich is already 29 years old. He needs to sign the last major contract of his career. Yes, to make good money. There is no point in signing short-term agreements, because due to age, financial offers will only fall. Dynamo cannot pay much in the current circumstances. A salary of 1 million euros (according to media reports, this is how much Verbic received in Ukraine) looks like a big burden on the budget. And the Slovene would hardly want to go for a pay cut.
There were no prerequisites for moving to the leading championships. Therefore, there remained Turkey, the Middle East, possibly “Slovan” (they give good personal conditions there), Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and the like.
Verbic's choice fell on Panathinaikos. The Greeks gave a contract for 3 years and a salary of 2.5 million euros per season plus bonuses. Excellent conditions for Verbic. He got what he wanted. Panathinaikos did not pay compensation for the player, so they were able to give a good personal contract.
Now the team is not even second in Greece after Olympiacos. The team from Athens finished last season in fourth place. Leaving ahead not only the favorite Olya, but also PAOK and Aris.
If you look at the composition, then there are no stars at all. Everything is very modest. Local players plus unknown foreign players. The team's most famous player is another Slovenian, Andraž Sporar, who joined this summer from Sporting. Sporar and Verbić are worth €4.5m each according to Transfermarkt, which is the highest in the team.
I would understand if Verbic went to such a team after thirty. Or moved to Greece to the local grand with the opportunity to play in the Champions League. And so he simply gave up his ambitions and got a good personal contract. Panathinaikos matches his level and ambitions.
Sergei TISHCHENKO
