Premiers in the league: how the RPL leaders strengthened before the fight for the championship

The winter transfer window in the Russian Premier League has closed, and its last days were without sensations. In general, not all Russian top clubs have made high-profile transfers. Zenit and CSKA were active with additional applications and demonstrated serious ambitions in the fight for the championship, Lokomotiv and Spartak signed only one player each, and Krasnodar, following the results of exit and entry transfers, at least did not strengthen the depth of the squad, and it seems even lost it. Izvestia has sorted out which teams are in maximum combat condition for the resumption of the season.

Krasnodar

A year ago, before the spring season resumed, many experts said that Krasnodar would not be able to cope because of the small clip. The conversation was about the edges of the attack, and about the central striker. But everyone was wrong. Musaev's team surpassed its competitors and became the champion.

Krasnodar's attacking flanks were reinforced by Perrin and Furtado in the summer of 2025, but both players have already left the team this winter. The Frenchman was a failure — Gaetan couldn't cope with the competition at all and went to Lille. But Furtado is a capable guy, but he's still a bit raw, so renting him to Sochi, where there are no ambitious goals, fits into the development model.

And it turned out that the team was once again left without depth in the attacking group. To remedy the situation, Juan Boselli from Paris NN was urgently brought to Murad Musayev. It is clear that the Uruguayan looked bright in the outsider team and admired the volume of his calf muscles, but so far his invitation looks like a temporary solution for a conditional six months. Because someone has to fill in for Sa, Butchy, and Cordoba.

Krasnodar also strengthened their right-back position, beating CSKA in the fight for Ilya Vakhania from Rostov. However, the contract will come into force only in the summer. Ilya will move to Krasnodar as one of the strongest attacking flank defenders in the league. Interestingly, Daniil Denisov was the favorite to sign Krasnodar in transfer rumors, but he extended his contract with Spartak and turned out to be unavailable.

At the same time, the main potential problem of the Krasnodar squad remains the forward. John Cordoba had health problems in the offseason, but Krasnodar residents are seriously dependent on the Colombian's condition. So far, it is questionable. And John, who turns 33 in May, should already be seriously working on a replacement.

Zenit

Perhaps the most powerful transfer window was held in St. Petersburg. At first, Zenit recorded a defeat with Gerson, who came for € 25 million in the summer on the rise after the club World Cup and calls to the Brazilian national team, but showed almost nothing in Russia.

Perhaps the people of St. Petersburg did the right thing — they sold a useless and expensive football player at a time when they could still get money for him. As a result, according to official data, the Brazilian left for Cruzeiro for €27 million. However, Zenit will receive the money gradually, in tranches. In addition, the amount of the transfer "at the entrance" did not take into account the substantial lifting fees and bonuses for Gerson's representatives and himself. So visually, the deal looks a little worse than it seems. But generally a normal solution that fixed a difficult situation.

Other sales turned out to be less high—profile: Casserra went to Atletico Mineiro for €7 million, and Strahinja Erakovic went on a paid lease to Crvena Zvezda. The Colombian was just tired in St. Petersburg, and it became obvious to everyone. Therefore, his departure looks logical, but the Serb did not have a stable place at the start in the first part of the championship, and relations with Semak deteriorated. Plus, we must not forget that Erakovich occupies a legionnaire slot, which will gradually become fewer in the Russian championship.

Actually, that's why Zenit pulled off an excellent deal with CSKA with the exchange of Luciano Gondu, who also hung in reserve, for Igor Diveev. The ex-Army man can become an excellent partner for Nino and help Zenit avoid the legionnaire trap. John John is a direct functional replacement for Gerson. He came for €15 million from RB Bragantino. He is a very creative and intense football player with a good work ethic (that was the case in Brazil). He will most likely take a place in the center of midfield. However, now Semak will have to think about how to fit Glushenkov, Enrique and John John with Wendel on the field at the same time. The task seems to be pleasant, but difficult.

As for the most high-profile deal of the winter, it's the off-the-shelf lease of John Duran. Bought by Al-Nasr for €88 million, the Colombian proved nothing in Saudi Arabia, quarreled with Turkey on loan and has now arrived at Zenit. The rental price will be €3.5 million. And this is a great decision, because Duran is one of the most promising strikers in the world even now. He is only 22, and he scores even in the most unfortunate moments of his short career. Therefore, he can show his level at Zenit.

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"Locomotive"

There's not much to say about Lokomotiv against the background of previous teams. The team looks very weak in the transfer market. They let Captain Barinov go, signed Lukas Vera, who was overweight, and that was it. Yes, there was also the termination of the contract with Ivan Kuzmichev, who had been on the balance sheet of the railway workers for a very long time and did not bring any real benefit. But is this the way to something serious? In any case, there is a feeling that Lokomotiv has not made a step forward in its development. And, most likely, this spring it will claim the same as last season. That is, for a decent end to the championship.

Moreover, there is no feeling that the railwaymen were looking for reinforcement in the starting lineup. Rather, there was talk of rotation. For example, Loko wanted Oleinikov from Krylia and Shchetinin from Rostov. But no deals happened. Besides, would they have changed anything?

CSKA

The Army team actively conducted a transfer campaign. Obviously, CSKA wants to fight for the championship right now. First of all, we brought in a great striker Luciano Gonda, who is already scoring goals at training camp.

Barinov's transition is also a very cool story. Getting the missing link in the center of the field, a charismatic leader with a Russian passport, and even at the age of 29, is a great solution. Moreover, Dmitry was acquired from Loko for only €2 million. There is a feeling that CSKA has a great team in the center: Barinov — Kislyak — Oblyakov, which can easily claim to be the main one not only of the club, but also of the Russian national team.

Danila Kozlov and Maxim Voronov may be players of different status, but they are more about investing in a limited future. Everything is clear with Kozlov: he plans to get more playing practice in the Celestini team than in Krasnodar. But for Voronov, the transfer from Ural is a huge step in his career.

Another acquisition is Mateus Reis from Sporting, who is backed by high—quality selection, experience and several positions that he can close. CSKA released Diveev to Zenit, as well as Abdulkadyrov to Akhmat. And the latter is unexpectedly leased with the right to buy. Reis will probably be used as the left lateral, and Moises will permanently move to the center of defense.

The CSKA sales are a vivid demonstration of the weak transfer policy of recent windows: Alerrandro, Villagra, Verde and even Gaich are strange stories that are difficult to explain. In any case, the army is showing ambition this winter. And of course, they support the head coach. CSKA is in the fight for gold. That's for sure.

"Spartak"

The winter of 2026 is perhaps the most economical for Spartak in 10 years. The results of the transfer window, which Spartak spent unusually quietly, were only the transfer of Saus from Baltika for 350 million rubles. There were fewer expenses only in the winter of 2020 - then the red and white only leased Sobolev from Krylia for 500 thousand euros. But with the obligation to buy out for €4.5 million, that is, they transferred large expenses from winter to summer.

This silence indicates that the club is preparing to tighten the limit on foreign players, and it is also a consequence of the fact that quantitatively all positions in the club are filled. Carcedo needs to deal with the current set of players. When we talk about the strength of the Spartak squad, the gorgeous end of Stankovich's autumn comes to mind here. Can they? Well, obviously they can. But then what? Complete disappointment and occasional outbursts. It's like a match with Zenit in the spring of 2025.

Many of the fans say that the Spartak squad is not ready to fight for gold, bearing in mind this gray period under the leadership of Dejan Stankovic. A segment that revealed a lot of weaknesses, including a lack of coaching ideas and development. Others talk about the transfer cost. Right now, according to the portal Тransfermarkt.de Spartak is the second in the league (€133 million) after Zenit (€184.4 million). And it's quite deep in terms of rotation. Therefore, in theory, red and white can compete for high places.

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Dynamo

During this transfer window, Dynamo did the main thing that the fans have been asking for for a long time — they acquired a central defender. David Ricardo came from Botafogo. They say he is a very balanced and strong player. And this is an obvious plus before the spring part, where, however, Dynamo's hope is only for the cup. Everything is already lost in the championship.

But in general, the situation is very similar to Spartak. There are no special expectations from the championship, a new coaching staff and a fight for the cup. Yes, Makarov left, who had an open conflict with Gusev, but otherwise there was absolute silence. There was a story with midfielder Ulvi Babayev, who was going to Spartak, but eventually decided to extend his contract. And also, according to some sources, the blue and white tried to look for a winger. But they didn't find anyone serious.

In any case, the coaching staff needs to work with this squad, which is capable of fighting for the top three, and in a good situation, even for the championship. And spring will be an opportunity for Dynamo's experimental coaching staff to demonstrate the potential of their players.