What to expect from Dynamo during the transfer window?

On 1 January, the transfer window opened in Ukraine. So far, there are no new transfers. Only very distant rumours. Dynamo are allegedly interested in Maxim Bragaru, a no-longer-young Brazilian defender from the Bulgarian league, and in Chornomorets' flanker Taras Kacharaba.

All of this does not look like substantive interest on the part of Dynamo. Rather, it is the desire of the players and their managers to promote themselves on the name of a famous club in order to increase their price. Can Dynamo be strengthened by a no longer young player from the third team of the Bulgarian championship? Can Dynamo strengthen the 29-year-old Kacharab, who was not wanted by Shakhtar and Slavia? Can Bragaru compete with Vladyslav Dubinchak and Kostiantyn Vivcharenko at left-back, or is he stronger than the existing wingers? The answers are obvious.

Oleksandr Shovkovskyi did not take over as Dynamo's head coach for the winter training camp. It is hardly rational to spend money on a coach who has only played 4 matches on his own. His main task is to progress the existing players. Look at the current squad of players from a different angle. During the winter training camp, we can help young players progress and improve their level. If Dynamo wanted to strengthen, it is unlikely that the name of the new coach would be Shovkovskyi. Here, Oleksandr Volodymyrovych's ability to work with existing players comes to the fore. He has been with the team for a long time. He knows their potential very well. Now he has complete freedom of action.

Oleksandr Syrota, Maksym Dyachuk, Kostiantyn Vivcharenko, Volodymyr Brazhko, Kristian Bilovar, Anton Tsarenko, Samba Diallo, Naveen Malysh, Nazar Voloshyn and Vladyslav Vanat, Matvii Ponomarenko should become stronger over the winter. Volodymyr Shepelev, Denys Popov, Vladyslav Supryaga will get rid of their problems and become more stable. Perhaps someone from the youth team will improve.

Last summer, Vitaliy Ponomaryov had his first off-season in charge of Rukh's senior team. The coach, who had only recently been entrusted with the team and escaped the last round of head-to-head matches, did not sign a single player. Thanks to their work at the training camp, Rukh made a splash in the first part of the season. The result is not so important to them. Ilya Kvasnytsia, Bohdan Slyubyk, and Yevhen Pastukh have made tremendous progress.

When Mircea Lucescu took over Dynamo in the summer of 2020, he did not immediately engage in selection work. The main task was to progress the existing players. The big problem in the centre of defence was solved thanks to the very young Ilya Zabarnyi. Finally, Mykola Shaparenko revealed his talent.

Therefore, we should not expect an active transfer campaign from Dynamo in the winter of 2024. There is no need to compare that someone signs legionnaires and is active in the transfer market. Everyone has their own way. "Dynamo has a fairly young team. The existing players can still make serious progress. We don't need to pay €5 million for Kvasnytsia, but rather to bring up players of this level ourselves.

The end of the first part of the season clearly showed that Dynamo's current squad can do much more than under the previous coach. It is very important to carry over all the positive trends into the spring. No one has cancelled the task of becoming a champion. But investment or the development of existing players will be no less important.

Serhii Tyshchenko