There’s a Fyodor Chalov transfer rumour building in Russia, and Watford are playing a big part in it.
CSKA News have been following the claims about their club’s striker, and, as is often the case, there’s a whole load of comments from agents.
When a transfer rumour gets going in the Russian media, agents, even those who have nothing to do with the potential transfer, are brought in for comment.
After a bit of digging, it appears the rumour started with Alexey Zinin (Алексей Зинин) on Twitter.
He claimed: ‘An agent from London sent me an authorisation from a club of the Premier League for Chalov with a request to help make a transfer for €5m. I had to disappoint: We have a limit. For CSKA to enter into negotiations, I think the amount should be three times more. This is the question of why we rarely leave.’
Zinin’s Twitter account presents him as a football consultant who helps find transfer solutions.
CSKA News then reported a source said the club was Watford, who are ‘ready to offer €5m’.
That led to them getting quotes from Sandor Varga. He’s described as a ‘well-known agent and friend of Arsene Wenger’.
This has been the case for years.
A Russia to PL rumour, and up pops Wenger’s reported friend.
A lot was said, the most interesting bit being about whether €5m is enough or not: “I think he costs more. But he does not need to go anywhere yet. Firstly, he hasn’t outgrown Russian football yet. I also spoke about Golovin and even believe that he left a little early.”
Then came another CSKA News report, and another Russian agent. This time Jamal Akayev, who represents Ibrahim Tsallagova but is also listed by Transfermarkrt as representing Cholov.
He brought Nice into things: “Fedor is now one of the most interesting young forwards in Europe. It is normal that there is interest in him and a lot of rumours. Personally, I was approached a week ago, by the main scout of Nice. He is very interesting to them. And the amount that the club is ready to offer for the attacker is seriously more than the one that sounded previously for Watford. But, as far as I know, Fedor before the summer is fully concentrated on games for CSKA.”
And apart from endless opinion pieces on what Cholov should do, that’s up to date on the rather complicated situation.