"Before joining Dynamo, I consulted with Artur."

Last week, the Dynamo Moscow football club made its first transfer this winter. He signed a contract until 2030 with Brazilian Botafogo defender David Ricardo. The 23-year-old has already joined a new team training camp in Dubai, but has not yet reached Russia. In an interview with Izvestia, the Brazilian footballer shared his expectation of meeting Moscow frosts for the first time in his life, explained why he preferred Dynamo to Italian Torino, and told how the Russian championship differs from the Brazilian championship.

"The club made great efforts to sign a contract with me."

— This is the first time you will live and play outside your native country. What do you expect from this?

— I am very glad that such a serious club as Dynamo is interested in me and invited me to play in Russia. This is a new challenge for me and a new experience. Football is very different in Brazil and Russia, and I am very interested in trying my hand at the new championship.

— What's the difference?

— In Brazil, football is more technical, in Russia it is more powerful and faster. I would even say vertical. A lot of attention is paid to tactical and physical training.

— The Italian Torino was interested in you. Why did they prefer a contract with Dynamo and a game in the RPL to a game in Serie A?

— First of all, I liked Dynamo's interest in me. This is a big project, very ambitious. The club made great efforts to sign a contract with me. And he did everything for it very quickly. The financial issue did not play a big role, since Dynamo and Torino's salary offers were about the same. But any football player is happy when a club shows great interest in nnm. That was the case with Dynamo, so I made this choice.

— Who did you consult with when you decided to sign a contract with Dynamo?

— I talked to Artur before joining Dynamo — he told me only good things about the city and the club. He explained that Dynamo has a very good club structure and organization, and that the team has great ambitions and wants to fight for titles. And that the club employs very good and kind people who will always help if there are any problems. All this combined to convince me to accept Dynamo's offer.

— When choosing between Torino and Dean Amo, was it influenced by the fact that Russian clubs do not participate in European competitions? Why wasn't even this fact crucial to you?

— Of course, there were doubts, because I understood that Dynamo does not play in European competitions, like other Russian teams. Every player has a dream to play in European competitions, but I'm still young, I'm 23 years old. And I have plenty of time to fulfill this dream. But now I have full concentration only on Dynamo. And European competitions are already a matter of the future.

Dynamo Bureau: how the blue and white started the preseason

The team is holding a winter training camp in the Emirates and has played its first matches under the new coaching staff.

"Psychologically, I'm already preparing myself for the Moscow frosts"

— You signed a contract with Dynamo and immediately came to the team's training camp in Dubai, having not yet visited Russia. How ready are you for winter in Moscow?

— I have very high expectations of coming to Moscow soon. Especially when I know that it's very cold there, that the temperature sometimes reaches -20 degrees. It's even a little scary to come in such a cold. But I'm ready for it.

— Have you ever been to places with similar temperatures?

— I've never been in my life (laughs)! I am very far from this cold. The minimum temperature I was at was +10...+14 degrees. Psychologically, I am already preparing myself for winter in Russia. But there is still time before Dynamo returns to Moscow. Probably, when there are a few days before the flight to Moscow from Dubai, I will be a little more worried about this. But now it is important to start preparing psychologically for this.

— Have you already consulted with Russian Dynamo players or Latin Americans who have been living in Moscow for several years, what to buy before arriving there, what kind of clothes are needed for this?

"I haven't bought anything yet." I flew to Dubai with only suitcases with clothes that I took from Brazil. As you know, it's summer there now. Of course, you need to make purchases to be ready for arrival in Moscow. That's why I'll do it towards the end of the training camp. I am very interested in how everything will be when I find myself in Russia. I have never seen snow and such cold in my life — it will be extremely interesting to see and feel for myself. But we still have a month in Dubai. Towards the end of the training camp, I will think even more about preparing to move to your capital.

— Before the Dynamo proposal appeared, what did you hear about Moscow and Russia in general?

— If we talk about places to visit, I haven't studied Moscow in detail yet and haven't searched the Internet for a lot of information about it. We have already talked about the weather in Russia at this time of the year — as you can see, I already know about it (smiles). But my wife studied the information about the country in more detail. She loves to travel a lot. I think she's looking forward to arriving in Moscow. She always wanted to see and understand how to live in such cold weather. To be honest, I know less than she does, but I know that Moscow is a very beautiful city where it is very cold.

— Will this also be your wife's first time in an area where the temperature is below zero degrees?

— Yes, she, like me, is very far from the cold. If in my life the minimum temperature was +10, then my wife lived at least at +20 (laughs). Let's see, I think it will be even more difficult for her to get used to the cold than for me. But she's getting ready. So soon we will come to Russia with our recently born child and see how ready we really are for this.