Former head coach of Dynamo Kyiv Oleksandr Khatskevich shared his opinion about the transfers made and rumors about Ukrainian footballers in the winter transfer window.
Alexander Khatskevich“Maybe better financial conditions at Chelsea played a role with Mudrik
— Alexander Nikolaevich, Mudrik signed a contract with Chelsea, although the leader of the Premier League was interested in him earlier. Perhaps it would be better for him to go to Arsenal?
- Judging by the way Arsenal and Chelsea are performing today, the Gunners would definitely be favorites in this choice.
There are only two sides to decide who goes where. This is the relationship between the clubs, the financial side, plus the choice of Mudrik himself
— Chelsea paid 70 million euros for Mudrik. Another 30 million are provided as bonuses. Londoners overpaid or is this the real price of Mikhail?
- Judging by the way Chelsea spend money, they have no problem with money. High price? You know, there is such a thing that if you paid, then the football player is worth it. In the last six months, Misha has performed quite brightly, both in the Champions League and in the Ukrainian championship, he was the leader. He hasn't played much at the top level yet, but he's young, so Chelsea see potential in him.
Now all the clubs in Ukraine are probably experiencing some kind of financial problems. So this transfer gives Shakhtar the confidence to feel financially more stable in the future. Based on the fact that Akhmetov's interest in the team has become less, the Pitmen need money and this sale gives them such confidence and stability.
Of course, this is a lot of money, but Misha is a rather talented football player and the English championship for him now will be an impetus for further development.
— Chelsea offered Mudrik more favorable financial terms than Arsenal, for which the player allegedly dreamed of playing. Could this fact affect the final choice of the player? Or did Shakhtar push through their line and earn more money?
— It is clear that the financial side is an important factor. From a sporting point of view, Arsenal is a younger, more promising team.
I don’t know what Chelsea’s strategy is in terms of building and the future. At the moment, they are in the top ten at the bottom (after 19 rounds of the Premier League, Chelsea is in tenth place - ed.). But the fact that they offered more money there and less money there may have played a role, plus the contract is very long-term. This is Mudrik's personal decision.
"Girona" for Tsygankov can be a springboard to the top club "
— Tsygankov moved to Girona. Is this the right choice for him or a staging post?
— Vitya is a smart and cunning football player. To consider Girona as a transit point, you must first of all show yourself in the Spanish championship.
Yes, Girona is quite confident in the middle of the standings. It is clear that Spanish football is more technical: one that suits Vitya, but how will he show himself there? It is clear that the language barrier, plus a new team and partners, different requirements, the intensity of the game is completely different. And how ready Vitya will be for this will depend on him.
But the fact that Tsygankov needs to pass, for his own development, the development of his talent, is unequivocal.
— The transition of the leader of Dynamo and the Ukrainian national team Tsyhankov to the middle peasants of La Liga Girona looks strange. Is it a bad job of the agent or the real level of the player at the moment?
— Let's not talk about Tsygankov's level today. Vitya is a fairly stable, good football player who makes a difference both in the national team and in the club.
We will be able to find out the level only when Tsygankov and Mudrik play in the top championships, then we can talk about the class. Because we have high expectations somewhere, and when our players get into the top championships, then today, except for Zinchenko, Mikolenko and Malinovsky, no one plays there. Yes, and Malinovsky has recently been not as bright at Atalanta as before.
Not everyone manages to realize the potential and talent that we see in the UPL and in the Ukrainian national team. There is a completely different level of championship
— Tsygankov still had options with PSV, Anderlecht, and other clubs. Do you think Benelux would be a better option than Girona?
- You know, PSV is a team that always fights for the highest places, participates in European competitions. The level of football in Holland is good and the schemes they play are suitable for Vitya,
Maybe, in terms of a playing career, this option would have been better, but if Tsygankov chose the option with Girona, then this could be a springboard to a more top club. We can only guess about it.
“Yaremchuk needs coaching trust”
— How will Yaremchuk in Club Brugge deal with the new coach Scott Parker? He scored in Gent, then it all went downhill. The most expensive transfer is Brugge, and he does not show the game that was expected of him. What is his problem?
- Roma needs trust to play, even if his game fails somewhere. Need coaching support. According to the new head coach, he is ready to give Yaremchuk this opportunity to make the player believe in himself again.
It is clear that the middle peasant can shoot, as was the case with Gent: they had a period when they played with Dynamo in the playoffs of the Champions League qualification in 2020 (Kyiv won with a score of 5:1 in two matches - ed.). It was the peak of the team and the peak of Roma himself, then Benfica noticed him.
Why didn't it work out in Benfica? This is a transition to a team, a completely different level. This is a top club, there is strong competition. Brugge is also a top team for Belgium.
And there is also competition. You need to withstand this competition, you need to be effective in every game. Roma needs to return the stability with which he played in Ghent.
- This season, Everton and Mikolenko do not look very confident. Did our defender give up or the team as a whole?
Let's remember the previous season. Everton solved the problem of maintaining a place in the Premier League only at the end of the championship. Plus, this season Richarlison left them - a man who brought them a certain number of points.
Everton has not strengthened, as we see at the moment, it is unstable, so the whole team is not Mikolenko's game. He performs his tasks, what I see is that Vitalik does it consistently. Yes, not without mistakes, but everyone makes mistakes.
- Is Malinovsky in Marseilles a step forward, backward or marking time for him?
- Atalanta's peak has probably already passed. Both the team and Malinovsky achieved the maximum for themselves - this is getting into the top four in Serie A, participation in the Champions League. Now it is clear that there is a decline.
Moving to Marseille? Yes, there is a favorite in the French championship, this is PSG, but Marseille is a team that fights for a place in the Champions League, plays in European competitions. Therefore, I think that for Malinovsky this is a step forward.
He is already a football player with experience, with knowledge of languages, I do not think that it will take him a long time to become one of the main players.
"Shaparenko has the potential to play in a top club"
- Who in the UPL can be the next Mudrik? Whose transfer will blow up the market?
— I think it should be Kolya Shaparenko. God grant that he recovers as soon as possible and reaches the level he was at. He has a very great potential to play in the top championship and in the top team.
- There were a lot of rumors about Zabarny: do you think he continues to progress now, or has he stopped? What does he need to do to keep growing?
- Ilya already has a level, he took off pretty quickly. There was a very quick transition from youth football to adult football.
He needs to add stability, because in the first part of the championship he had a lot of technical, tactical, and positional mistakes.
But with such a baggage of international experience, in order to grow further, you also need to change the championship. And if there are proposals on it, then Surkis must understand and make a decision.
"For me, Lucescu will always be Shakhtar's coach"
- Who in Dynamo is not improving now and is performing below his capabilities this season?
- It is impossible to say that some of the players do not improve. Here you need to take everything as a whole, starting with how Lucescu says that they do not have a permanent place where they should settle. But he probably knows better than anyone else what a team move is.
For me, Lucescu will always be Shakhtar's coach. He was a coach in the same situation in 2014, and when now his current team did not have their place and did not win the championship, then his experience should have played a major role here. First of all, he did not improve in terms of logistics - Dynamo spent quite a lot of time on the move.
If we take Shakhtar, then it was based in Lviv and Poland, and Dnepr-1 - in Slovakia and Uzhgorod. It is clear that the logistics of Dnepr-1 are more convenient. Dynamo had to play certain matches in Kyiv, which increased travel. Here the coach had to understand that the team needed a base where the team would be during this war period. Lucescu's experience should have played a big role, he should have been more persistent in these matters, so as not to say later that the team was on the move.
- At Dynamo, Lucescu has been often criticized lately, especially for European cups. What do you think, what to do with the Romanian specialist?
— There were many conversations. Either Lucescu himself wants to leave, or allegedly the leadership [wants to change the head coach]. This is an agreement between Surkis and the coach. What is he? With compensation or without? I do not know.
If we are talking about European competitions, for the last four years, taking into account the Champions League and the Europa League, the results are unsatisfactory.
- Who can replace Lucescu as head coach?
- You know, there is a president there, as he says - with a Dynamo heart, he will not take on a coach anymore. Only he remained - one person in the team with a Dynamo heart (smiling). Only he can know and guess who can replace Lucescu in the future.
— What is your opinion about the Cup of Ukraine? Is it worth doing it? And how does our federation see it?
- Information has already been sent to the teams, as the UAF sees it, but we only read and hear that some teams are not ready to participate in this period of time, and according to the scheme how the cup will be held.
It is clear that there are matches that are interrupted, a lot of moves. I have little faith that it will be technically possible. It is not clear what kind of winter it will be, what conditions, but the most important thing is that there is a war going on in the country.
The fact that the championship is being held is great, but I don’t think it’s necessary to flog the fever and hold the Cup of Ukraine in these four months.
This is an additional burden for the teams: financial, moving, traveling. Is there a championship? and thank God, we need to finish it and see what the situation in the country will be like.
- Dnepr-1 finished the first part of the season in first place. Were you surprised by such a high position of Kucher's team?
- Here, probably, both Shakhtar and Dynamo were more disappointed. Yes, Dnepr-1 has assembled a fairly good team. Several young footballers played. Dovbik and Pikhalenok look very strong. Pretty solid defense. "Dnepr-1" was more stable.
Dynamo had an early start to the season with European Cup qualifications and relocations. And "Dnepr-1" calmly chose a place - Slovakia and Uzhgorod. The Dnipro management has worked much stronger in this regard.
It is clear that when the games of the Europa League were already underway, the same Dnipro-1 also began to sag, because 15 people are not enough to participate in the Conference League and the championship. If Dnipro-1 wants to continue to achieve results, then they need to lengthen their bench with stronger players than those that Kucher currently has.
The second part of the championship promises to be exciting and interesting in terms of fighting for the first place, because there is not such a big gap and all the teams are unstable. Both Dynamo with Shakhtar and Dnepr-1. Dawn cannot be dropped, the team is also quite ambitious. "Alexandria" declares that its task is to be in the top three. Therefore, it will be interesting to see how Dnepr-1 will maintain its position.
- Which UPL team surprised you the most with a "+" sign and a "-" sign?
- With a "+" sign - "Dnepr-1". On the negative side, it is, of course, Dynamo today. The result that we have... I don't remember when Dynamo was in third place after the first half, let alone the first third of the season... Places in the middle... It was completely unexpected.
Previously, a lead of eight points meant that you could no longer fight for the first place. In this situation, I can’t say about it, and yet the end of the autumn part of the championship showed that Dynamo became more stable both in the game and as a result. For the second part, I hope that Dynamo will continue to fight for the first place.
Evgeny Chepur
