Tsygankov decided not to play by the rules of Surkis. His move to Girona is the right, albeit belated step

This winter, the Ukrainian Premier League lost two leaders of its leading clubs at once. First, Mikhail Mudrik left Shakhtar for London Chelsea for incredible money, and after him, Dynamo midfielder Viktor Tsygankov went to conquer Spain, who became a full-fledged football player in Girona. These two stories are united by only one factor – the desire of both players to move to one of the top European championships and try to declare themselves at a higher level. In all other respects, these are two completely different transitions, two different clubs’ approaches to working on the transfer market and buildingYu relationships with their players.

Tsygankov can safely be called the best Dynamo football player of the last few years, who coped with leadership duties after Andriy Yarmolenko left the team. Therefore, it is not at all surprising that in different years European clubs were interested in the football player of the Ukrainian national team, which came to the leadership of Dynamo either with specific proposals or demonstrated their desire to get the Kiev midfielder. But in fact, throughout his career in Kyiv, Viktor never really came close to leaving his native club.

Not a single transfer window in Ukrainian football passed without mentioning the name of Tsygankov, who was sent to various championships each time, and the clubs that were pretending to the midfielder Dynamo were called very different: from outsiders to contenders for the championship title in the best European leagues. The contract of the Ukrainian with Dynamo, calculated until the summer of 2023, also became one of the main topics of discussion and a factor bringingm story ending with his possible care. Actually, that’s what happened.

Moment de coneixer els companys! 🤝🥰 pic.twitter.com/0Lnf7usnRJ

— Girona FC (@GironaFC) January 17, 2023

Last summer, in the last days of the transfer window, the Spanish Girona made its first attempt to get a Ukrainian: the Catalans offered the people of Kiev 10 million euros, the payment of which would be stretched over several tranches over the next two years. President of Dynamo Igor Surkis, traditionally, refused the offer, once again stating that such an amount does not correspond to the level of a football player who “cannot leave the team on the last day of the transfer window in this way.” There really was logic in the words of the president of the Kyiv club, because before that he had repeatedly rejected much more attractive deals for the team leader, and the football player himself probably rated himself much higher.

It’s no secret that in the case of Tsygankov, Surkis wanted to pull off the same trick that once Yarmolenko ended up in Borussia Dortmund. The owner of Dynamo persuaded Andriy to sign a new agreement with the blue and white, giving a promise to sell it in a few years upon receipt of a worthy offer. As a result, Yarmolenko, albeit not immediately, left for Germany, and his career in Europe developed in a very controversial way. President Dynamo expected to apply a similar approach to Viktor, again focusing on the usual arguments about the club’s patriotism and the decency of a football player who “can’t just leave the team.”

Habout all attempts to negotiate with Tsygankov on a new contract for the leadership of the capital club were unsuccessful and six months before the end of the current contract, Dynamo found itself in a difficult and uncomfortable position when the host 25 year old a team player could leave the team for free next summer. Victor decided to refuse to play by the rules of the president of Kiev and chose his own path in order to fulfill his dream as soon as possible, and not waste time and once again not tempt fate, and not shackle his future.ee under the mood or decision of one person. Such a step, of course, causes only respect and speaks of the desire of the Ukrainian midfielder continue progress.

For Igor Surkis, such a departure from Tsygankov should be a lesson for the future, because he is well aware that he was obliged and had the opportunity to earn much more on the transfer of his best football player, who is at an ideal football age. But for now, especially against the backdrop of the successful sale of Mudrik by Shakhtar, the president of Dynamo will again receive a portion of well-deserved criticism because of his unwillingness to successfully and timely sell the players of the Kyiv team.

Despite having a choice this winter or next summer, Tsygankov decided to trust his agent Pere Guardiola and he without any problems issued the transition of the Ukrainian to Girona. The younger brother of Pep Guardiola is the president of the Girona Football Group, which owns part of the shares of the Spanish club, so there could not have been any difficulties in this transaction initially. In this situation, there are questions only to the Ukrainian agent, who could not or did not want to find his client, accustomed to playing in European competitions every year, more eminent and competitive options to continue your career.

Initially it was reported that Victor was supposed to join Girona next summer on a free transfer, and the second part of the season to finalize his contract with Dynamo. But in the end, the parties managed to agree about a full-fledged transfer this winter: the people of Kiev will receive compensation for their pupil in the amount of 5 million euros and 50% of the possible future player sales. Probably, it is the percentage of the next sale of the Ukrainian that is the main thing in this story, which demonstrates the understanding of both clubs and Tsygankov himself in that he must not stay in that Catalan city too long. And Girona, and Dynamo, and the player expect that this transfer will be an intermediate stage to something more.

In addition, it is very important that the deal took place this winter, and not next summer. Tsygankov could sign a preliminary contract with the Spanish club and stay at Dynamo for another six months, but this option would hardly suit everyone: yes, together with Viktor, the people of Kiev have more chances to compete for the championship title this season, but one cannot reject the option in which the Ukrainian could lose his place at the heart of the team with which he does not plan his future. For Tsygankov himself, it is much better to spend the next six months adapting to the new championship and be useful to Girona already now than to risk being left without playing practice in Ukraine or getting another injury a few months or weeks before moving to the Catalan club.

Dindeed, it was hard to imagine that one of the leading Ukrainian players of the last few years, the leader of Dynamo and the main player of the national team, would end up in modest Girona, which sets itself the task of maintaining a residence permit in the Spanish football elite. Especially considering the stable interest in Tsygankov from not the most recent European clubs. Hcurrentuy season, despite the disastrous performance of Dynamo in European competitions and the championship of Ukraine, the Ukrainian winger plays at his usual level and, statistically, is still keeping up with his best performance: 10 goals and 6 assists in 28 matches for the Kyiv team and the national team of Ukraine – this about the same numbers ase showed in this campaign gone to Chelsea Mudrik.

Girona is a typical representative of the lower part of the Spanish Championship standings, which has never had enough stars from the sky in its history, and this season also expects to simply stay in the Example, without pretensions to high places. Michel’s side have been undefeated in seven league games in a row, so the Girona newcomer joined the ranks at just the right moment of the season. But even in such a club, Tsygankov will have to start all over again, prove his willingness to play in a stronger championship, become a leader in a new team and match the level of a La Liga player. Otherwise, the Ukrainian will have almost no opportunities to go for promotion.

Prior to Tsygankov, Ukrainian Premier League stars like Dmytro Chygrynskiy and Yevhen Konoplyanka failed to shine in Liga, and definitely can’t take the Spanish period of their careers to their credit, while Andriy Lunin from Real Madrid is still patiently waiting for his chance to become the first stable first number. Blancos. Therefore, another task for the already ex-midfielder Dynamo will be to destroy the stereotype that Ukrainian football players cannot prove themselves in Spain in the best possible way. And Girona is not the worst option to continue a career, where there will be much less pressure on Victor.

Interestingly, despite a modest transfer fee of five million euros, Tsygankov became the most expensive acquisition in the history of Girona, and this fact also underlines the ambitions and status of the Spanish club. But the Ukrainian definitely should not pay attention to the level of his team: even in such a team, he is not guaranteed a place in the starting lineup, he must continue to work on himself, successfully cope with adaptation in football and domestic plans in order to confirm to himself and others the correctness of his decision .