Former Zenit midfielder Aleksey Strepetov told Sport Day after Day how the Croatian defender relates to the transition Dejana Lovrena from the Saint Petersburg club to the French Lyon.
The 33-year-old Croatian’s transfer to the French Ligue 1 club was announced on Monday. Lovren’s contract with Lyon is for 2.5 years.
– First of all, Lovren should be thanked for his years at Zenit. I hoped that as captain of the team he would lead Zenit to the championship. And only after that he will start considering the proposals of European clubs. Since Lovren made such a decision, the club will let him go. We wish him success. Once again, congratulations on the bronze medal of the World Championship – after all, it is a merit of Zenit. If we talk about his replacement, of course, Lovren, whatever people say about him, was the captain and chief of defense of Zenit. These functions will now have to be taken over by Rodrigao. Zenit has Dima Chistyakov, Alip, Adamov. But I think Zenit will consider another option with a central defender. We know that negotiations are underway with the young Brazilian central defender (Robert Renan – editor’s note). For sure, he will appear at Zenit training camp. In any case, a player from the central zone should appear.
– Who can play in tandem with Rodrigao?
– Dima Chistyakov needs to prove his worth. With Alip, I always notice errors. He has a lot of tactical errors for a centre-back. But maybe he’ll show up. There is also Adam.
In a couple in Rodrigao, another equally powerful defender should appear. Sufficiently qualified.
Foreign or Russian? Now we’re talking about a 19-year-old Brazilian defender, such a young man. But according to the critics, he is a good centre-back.
Perhaps a defender from a foreign club will appear. We know that we were in talks for a Red Star player (Strahinja Erakovic – editor’s note). I think the selection service has been working on this issue for a long time. We learned about Lovren’s transition at the last moment, but the Zenit management, I think, was ready for it. Serious selection work is underway for this position. And in the near future we will hear this name.
Lovren has been playing for the Blue-White-Blues since 2020, becoming a two-time Russian champion.
“Day to Day Sports”
Source : MatchTV
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