Ihor Surkis: "Lonwijk left after the first missile that flew over the base"

Dynamo president Ihor Surkis spoke about the club's transfer situation in an interview with Profutbol Digital.

- Ihor Mykhailovych, is the transfer of Sydorchuk the biggest upgrade for Dynamo in recent times?

- Sydorchuk left, and as I said, it was a very difficult decision. I talked to Sydorchuk, Lucescu, Yarmolenko, and Buyalsky. When Andriy returned to the team, he said that it was very important to keep experienced players. But it was Sydorchuk's decision, and there was no question of money for the transfer. He wanted to move and we let him go.

I understand that it will be difficult for us, Brazhko is a talented guy, but he doesn't have the experience that Sydorchuk has. He played well against Vorskla, coped with the game. I hope Volodymyr will continue to progress, and we have to give way to the young, because now we cannot invite very high-quality legionnaires.

We paid money for Lonwijk, created good conditions for him, but after the first missile that flew over the base, he said he didn't want to stay here while the war was going on. Today we had 11 Ukrainians in the race. I think they have coped with their task.

- Did you know who would become the new team captain?

- I did not interfere in this matter at all. Lucescu and the team decided. Yarmolenko is a very decent and modest person, he had an offer to become captain, but I guarantee that Andriy himself said that Buyalsky should be the new captain. Vitaliy also gave a lot to the Dynamo team.

- There is information that there will be a meeting of UPL club managers this week. What can you say about it?

- I can say that there will be a meeting, but I don't know what issues will be discussed. I received a call from the president of Polissia Butkevych called me and invited me to the meeting. No one will keep anything secret, everyone will know what was discussed. It is very good that the managers are getting together, and we will address important issues.

- So this is a more informal meeting...

- Yes, this is an informal meeting to resolve issues that concern the presidents of UPL clubs. We will talk, and I hope that this will benefit Ukrainian football. Perhaps Serhiy Rebrov will also attend this meeting, because the development of our football depends not only on Dynamo and Shakhtar, but also on other clubs.

You saw that Vorskla played a good game. Our championship has levelled up. If a couple of years ago 3-4 teams were playing and the rest were following them, today I can say that this is not the case. If there were still spectators at the stadium today, it would be even more interesting, but unfortunately, there is a war. However, we will definitely win, and our football will reach a new quality level.