Brazilian carnival: Zenit surprised again with high-profile transfers
This week Zenit St. Petersburg celebrated the most high-profile transfers of the winter in Russian soccer. The star Brazilian Luis Enrique joined the team. According to the media, he was acquired for more than €30 million. This is the most expensive purchase of our clubs in the last five years.
The 24-year-old winger moves to Zenit from Botafogo. Two of his compatriots follow in the opposite direction - striker Arthur is leaving the team now, while midfielder Wendel will leave in the summer. More about the changes in the composition of the St. Petersburg club - in the material "Izvestia".
Luis Henrique
The Brazilian winger is a pupil of the local Fluminense, which started playing in the main squad in 2020 at the age of 19. Even then he was considered one of the country's top talents and scouts of European clubs started to look at him. As a result, two seasons later he was bought by Spanish Real Betis for €13 million.
After two years in Seville, the footballer returned to Brazil. He was bought by Botafogo, which paid for the player a record for its championship amount - € 20 million. Having played there all last year, Luis Enrique helped the club to win the Brazilian championship, as well as the Libertadores Cup - the main club tournament on the continent, the South American equivalent of the Champions League.
"Botafogo" won the competition for the first time. In the victorious final against Atletico Mineiro, the future Zenit rookie scored the first goal and also earned a penalty from which the second goal was scored. His team won with a score of 3:1.
Last fall, Luis Enrique also managed to debut for the Brazilian national team and play for her six qualifying matches for the World Cup - 2026, scoring two goals. According to the German website Transfermarkt.de, the transfer fee for the transfer of this player to Zenit will be €33 million.
At the same time, Sport-Express claims that Zenit should pay €30 million of the transfer fee, and in the future a tranche of another €2 million in bonuses is possible. In any case, this is the most expensive acquisition made by an RPL club since 2019, when the same St. Petersburg club bought Brazilian Malcom from Barcelona for €40 million.
- "In terms of status, this is a very high-profile transfer, and the player is clearly of a high level," former Russian national team midfielder Alexander Mostovoi shared his opinion with Izvestia. - Obviously, people who have just scored in the Libertadores Cup final and regularly play for the Brazilian national team in official matches have very high qualifications. The fact that he cost a large sum of money is not surprising, as there is a demand for such players all over Europe. Whether Zenit need it in the absence of the European Cup is another question. The Russian Championship can be won with the forces they have. But, apparently, St. Petersburg are trying to be reassured. Although there are no guarantees here either. If Luis Enrique immediately shows his best soccer and makes the difference, like Malcom, Wendel and Claudinho in his best years, Zenit will quietly win their seventh consecutive championship. But we know many cases when legionnaires, especially Brazilians, need time to adapt in a new country, especially one so far from their homeland and with a completely different climate. The same Malcom in his first season in St. Petersburg was constantly injured and only a year after the transfer showed why he was bought. If there are the same problems with Luis Enrique, Zenit will be in a difficult position in the spring.
Wendel
The Brazilian midfielder moved to Zenit in 2020 from Portuguese Sporting. The St. Petersburg club paid for him, according to the media, more than €20 million transfer fee and €4 million in bonuses. Wendel immediately became one of the team's leaders alongside Malcom and Douglas Santos. He won four times with Zenit in the Russian championship, and last spring he also took the Cup of the country.
The three Brazilians, along with Claudinho, who arrived in St. Petersburg in the summer of 2021, have been key to the success of Sergei Semak's team in recent years, displacing the striker pairing of Artem Dzyuba and Serdar Azmoun, who left the team in the first half of 2022.
But already in the summer of 2023, that group of Brazilians began to disintegrate. Malcom was sold for €60 million to Al-Hilal from Saudi Arabia. And Wendel was on the verge of leaving for Italy in the same months. And missed the first rounds of the 2023/24 season. However, almost immediately after returning from vacation, he started scoring goals and distributing assists.
But even then it was clear that he and Claudinho did not always show their best soccer. And it seemed that they lost motivation in St. Petersburg. As a result, last spring Zenit snatched their sixth consecutive championship with great difficulty in the last round. And in the current campaign the club is not in first place, although in the best years of Malcom, Wendel and Claudinho secured the gold three or four rounds before the finish.
True, last summer Zenit extended Wendel's contract until the summer of 2028. But the other day, just after the official announcement of Luis Enrique's transfer, the club also announced that Wendel will leave for Botafogo at the end of the current season. According to Sport-Express, the transfer fee will be €20 million.
- It was obvious that Zenit would not let Wendel and Claudinho go right now - no one in the club would want to risk a sharp renewal of the leading group of players in the midst of the fight for the championship," said former Zenit head coach Anatoly Byshovets in a conversation with Izvestia. - St. Petersburg clearly want to win gold on the 100th anniversary of the club's foundation, as well as break Spartak's record for the number of consecutive league wins. And no one will part with key players, but obviously the current Brazilians, except for Douglas Santos, are losing motivation. And following the departure of Malcom a year and a half ago, the time of Wendel and Claudinho is gone. So it wouldn't be surprising to see Wendel leave after the season. I wouldn't be surprised if the same happens with Claudinho. And now Semak will build the team around Luis Enrique as he has previously managed to do around Malcom.
Arthur
The 26-year-old striker moved to Zenit a year ago from Palmeiras. He scored only four goals in 22 matches in the Russian championship, without becoming a core player. But it was to Arthur that the Blues owed last year's RPL title - the most difficult in Semak's six-and-a-half years in charge.
On May 25, 2024, the last 30th round of the Premier League was underway. By the 85th minute of their match, Zenit were playing to a draw with Rostov at home and were on the verge of giving the gold to Krasnodar. But Arthur's goal brought a 2-1 victory and a sixth consecutive championship.
Nevertheless, he failed to gain a foothold in the base. And after Zenit acquired Alexander Sobolev and Argentine Luciano Gonda in early September, it became clear that the Brazilian would not stay in St. Petersburg for long. As a result, he leaves for the same "Botafogo". According to Sport-Express, for €10 million.
- With this sum, we can say that Zenit made a good profit on a player who hasn't really played," former Spartak owner Andrei Chervichenko told Izvestia. - In general, the St. Petersburgers have a tendency to sometimes get overly fond of the Brazilian market, taking completely unpublicized guys who don't take root in St. Petersburg. This was the case with Du Queiroz, who is now on loan, with Yuri Alberto, who eventually left Zenit, as well as Pedro, who was bought at the same time as Artur. Still, it is much more reliable to take Brazilians with European experience, who have already adapted to life outside their native country, as it was with Malcom and Wendel. And as is the case with Luis Enrique. Or take someone with international success, as in the case of Claudinho, who was bought immediately after winning the Olympics in Tokyo with the Brazilian national team.
It should be reminded that after 18 rounds Zenit are in second place in the Russian championship, behind Krasnodar on additional indicators with equal points.
