Acquisition race: "Spartak" can spend about €30 mln on two players

In the coming days, the Red and Whites are likely to formalize two major acquisitions - Italian Torino and Serbian national team midfielder Ivan Ilic and Argentine River Plate striker Pablo Solari. The club can spend around €30 million on both players. These are some of the most high-profile transfers in the RPL after 2022. Only Zenit could acquire such star players in recent years. Read more about potential newcomers of the Red-Whites in the Izvestia article.

From Juric to Stankovic

Fans may remember Ilic from Euro 2024: he played in three matches and created the only Serbian goal at the tournament - he served a corner kick to Luka Jovic. This is Ivan's second goal in 19 matches for the national team. The midfielder also traveled to the World Cup-2022, but played only 30 minutes in the first round, but immediately against Brazil. By the age of 23 Ivan has 21 matches for the main team of Serbia. And this is very solid.

In general, Ilic debuted at the adult level with Red Star. And he got there only at 15, and before that he played for Real Nis.

Manchester City bought the player from Zvezda. The English paid €2.5 million, but classically left Ilic in his homeland. After a couple of rentals - to Serbian Zemun and Dutch NAC - the player went to Italy, and City never got a chance. His older brother Luka Ilic, who played for Real Nis, Crvena and then went to City for the same €2.5 million, went the same way. He too did not even get a minute in Manchester, after a couple of rentals he ended up at Troyes, and now he is back at Crvena Zvezda and played for them in the current Champions League.

Things have gone better for the younger Ilic. In 2020 the English sold the midfielder to Verona for €7.5 million, and in 2023 Torino paid €16.5 million for the Serbian. The Turin club only paid more for Simone Verdi. Speaking of which, it is interesting that Ilic came to coach Ivan Djuric twice. First at Verona, then at Torino.

"Verona and Torino Juric's top form are some of the most frustrating teams in Italy when playing without the ball. Once they lost possession, they instantly switched to personal pressing. Only the attacking group was exempt from it. It pressed on the passing line, forcing the opponent to abandon the short ball and switch to unprepared throw-ins.

Torino finished all three of Juric's seasons in the top five in goals conceded. Only teams from the league championship zone conceded less.

And in such a system, Ilic has found himself in his place. He can actively press for most of the match and move around without the ball, closing the space for the opponent's passes. Plus, he has a stable passing game and the ability to execute standards. Ivan is ready to play in three positions in midfield: supporting, central and attacking midfielder. But the basis of his skills is in the position of "eight", where he can simultaneously play a key role in the press and participate in ball distribution.

But Juric left Torino without bringing back a better version of Ilic, and ex-Spartak player Paolo Vanoli, who replaced him, has a more restrained pressing model, where Ilic's qualities are useful, but don't look as bright. Plus, Ilic has suffered several injuries (three this season) and his form has been steadily slowing down. It's also why he's only played 12 games out of a possible 22 in the current Serie A.

That said, Ilic's transfer is an important story for Spartak. Stankovic gets an ideal player for personal pressing (in this Dejan is similar to Juric, who, by the way, worked as an assistant at Mourinho's Inter, where Stankovic played), and Spartak dilutes the South American core. After all, with the signing of Pablo Solari from River Plate, there will be six representatives of this continent in the Red and White club. Plus the Portuguese-speaking Ricardo Mangas, who is part of this group.

Bongonde's replacement

Pablo Solari went through almost all of Argentina's youth and junior national teams, settling on the under-23 team. Transiting through Colo Colo (arrived emergency after Marcos Bolados' injury, quickly became an important part of the team, won the Chilean Cup in 2021, scoring in the final) Solari joined River Plate.

For "River Plate" Solari came out right forward, and recently often found himself in the center of the attack. In total, the Argentine has 30 goals and 17 assists for River in 110 matches, that is almost one goal per two matches.

Pablo is a player in Theo Bongonda's zone. The main complaint about Theo is his actions without the ball and lack of skils in combination play. In the first part of the season, Spartak were very slow on the right flank because of Bongonda. He is second in the league in dribbling quality, but he often loses sight of his partners. On top of that, Daniil Denisov is left without the Congolese in the defensive phase, which significantly reduces the club's potential in defense.

Solari is different in his type. He is right-footed (Theo is left-footed), which is not a common story for a right winger these days. His usual attacking model is to break down the flank to the face along the striker's side. Pablo can get back with a partner and make a targeted pass deep into the penalty area. He is also great at getting open on the offside line, running behind the defenders for a pass. Plus he has a quality finish. That's why Rivera have been using him in the center of attack lately.

For Stankovic, it's important for players to be responsible in pressing. "Spartak" uses a personal model, in which everyone has to work on their opponent. And here Solari is a godsend: he knows how to press and covers a lot of space in working without the ball.

Pablo doesn't have any outstanding dribbling, but his qualities are very suitable for teamwork. With the arrival of Stankovic, just such players, who become part of a single mechanism, have a special value. That's why on the opposite flank so well revealed Marquinhos, who combines dribbling and passes with active actions in the defensive phase.

According to the Argentine press, Solari's move is a done deal. The main contender is Spartak. According to our information, Spartak's sporting director Francis Cahigao is actively working on the deal. We may hear official information about the transfer soon.