European Dozen: Twelve Best Russian Footballers Abroad

Russian players rarely go to Europe lately: good contracts can be obtained at home, but not everyone is interested in gaining new experience abroad. Fortunately, this is not an axiom: many of our players have left a noticeable mark in the leading championships.

Dmitry Alenichev

The legendary midfielder of Spartak deserves to be named first. Alenichev did not do well in Italy, where he played for Roma and Perugia, but he found his club in Portugal, playing for Porto. He was an important member of José Mourinho's team, winning the 2003 UEFA Cup and the 2004 Champions League with the Dragons. Moreover, Alenichev scored a goal in the finals of each of the European Cups.

Alexander Mostovoy

Again Spartak, and again not immediately found his place in European football. First there was the Portuguese “Benfica”, then the French “Kahn” and “Strasbourg”. But the best eight years - from 1996 to 2004 - Mostovoy spent in the Spanish "Celta". Let the team from Vigo lacked the stars from the sky, but Mostovoy was its leader, the captain. Fans even raised money to erect a monument to him in the city - alas, it did not work out. But the nickname Tsar, which they gave to the Russian midfielder, is also worth a lot.

Valery Karpin

Where Mostovoy is, there is Karpin - they played together in Celta and made up its key attacking force. Valery moved from Spartak to Spain in 1994, played for Real Sociedad, then spent a season at Valencia, and in 1997-2002 he played in Vigo. After that, he returned to Real Sociedad for the last three seasons of his career. In each Spanish team, the sharp, technical Karpin was in the court, having spent a total of 325 matches and scoring 60 goals.

Andrey Kanchelskis

The midfielder of Shakhtar Donetsk liked the head coach of Manchester United Alex Ferguson in February 1991, and soon Kanchelskis moved to England for 650 thousand pounds. He easily adapted to the team with Paul Ince and Eric Cantona, becoming the champion of England twice and winning the European Super Cup. In 1998, Andrei was acquired by Everton, where he played for two years, then there was a season in the Italian Fiorentina, four seasons in the Scottish Rangers. Short dates with England in the "Manchester City" and "Southampton" were not very successful, but in the list of 100 best players "MU" fans put Kanchelskis in a worthy 25th place.

Sergey Yuran

In 1991, Yuran left Dynamo Kyiv for the Portuguese Benfica. Already in the first match, he scored four goals in the European Cup match and immediately became the idol of the fans, and subsequently shared first place in the list of snipers with Jean-Pierre Papin. However, in 1992, when the team was headed by Tomislav Ivic, things went wrong. Yuran played sporadically, and in 1994 he moved to Porto, where he was a ward of Bobby Robson - and lived up to the hopes of the legendary coach. He moved to Spartak for a year, and then returned again: first he agreed to the English Millwall, because his beloved woman lived in England, then he spent a season for Fortuna Dusseldorf and Bochum, and ended his career in the Austrian "Sturme".

Andrey Arshavin

In 2008, the main creative of Zenit and the Russian national team became the bronze medalist of the European Championship, won the UEFA Cup, and in 2009 went to conquer England as part of the London Arsenal. And he managed to show class: many remember the poker that he designed in April 2009 in a duel against Liverpool (4:4). He was recognized as the player of the month in the Premier League (second among Russians after Kanchelskis). Alas, in 2011, Arshavin lost his place in the squad and eventually returned to Zenit. However, 144 matches and 31 goals for Arsenal is a very worthy result.

Igor Shalimov

In 1991, Shalimov left the Moscow "Spartak" in the Italian "Foggia", being one of the leaders of the team. As part of the middle peasants of Serie A, he got used to it so briskly that he became a key forward, scored 9 goals and was recognized as the best legionnaire of the Italian championship of the season. After that, he was bought by Inter for $ 14 million, where Shalimov also easily got used to it. But he soon lost instead of the line-up after the arrival of Dennis Bergkamp and Wim Yonk, he lost his place in the line-up and, although he won the UEFA Cup, he soon went on loan - to the German “Duisburg”, the Swiss “Lugano”, “Udinese”. In 1996, Igor joined Bologna, where two more namesakes played in addition to him - Dobrovolsky and Simutenkov. Shalimov won a place in the first team, but was seriously injured and left Bologna in 1998. He spent the next season in Serie B at Napoli, but at the end he got into a doping scandal and ended his career.

Vladimir But

At the age of 14, he made his debut in the Russian first league as part of the Novorossiysk Chernomorets, and at 17 he left for Borussia Dortmund. The young midfielder was highly appreciated by specialists led by Ottmar Hitzfeldt, who predicted that he would become one of the stars of European football. In the 96/97 season, he made his debut in the main team of Borussia and became the winner of the Champions League - the second among Russians after Dobrovolsky. True, he also received little playing time, and did not always use it fruitfully. And in 2000, after a conflict with the new head coach Matthias Sammer, he moved to Freiburg, with whom he rose from the relegation zone to the European Cup zone and played 3 seasons. Then there were 4 matches in 2 years in "Hannover-96", a failed transition to the Scottish "Hearts" and Moscow "Spartak". Alas, Booth didn't always take chances and didn't always care about growing as a footballer.

Sergey Kiryakov

In 1992, the French “Lance” became interested in the assertive forward of the Moscow “Dynamo”, but in the end Kiryakov ended up in Germany. In the first match for Karlsruhe, he scored a hat-trick, at the end of the season with 11 goals he became the team's best sniper, helping her get into the UEFA Cup for the first time in history. And what's more - to get into the number of contenders for the "Golden Ball", even if he took 21st place in the end. Kiryakov spent six seasons in Karlsruhe, and when he lost his place in the squad in 1998, he moved to Hamburg, after which he played in the second Bundesliga for Tennis-Borussia. In Germany, he has 252 matches and 46 goals. Kiryakov spent the last three seasons in his career in China, where he performed well in the Yunnan Junta and Shandong Luneng.

Alexander Golovin

In 2018, the CSKA midfielder was escorted to Monaco with skepticism: they say, it is unlikely that he will be able to gain a foothold in the squad. Even despite the fact that the Monegasques were found at the bottom of the French Championship table. However, Golovin denied the predictions and proved that the 30 million euros for his transfer was not a waste. Gradually, he became one of the important players, universally equipped, able to make a pass, and score, and work out in defense. Together with him, Monaco rose from outsiders to the number of participants in European competition, and Golovin is already attracting the attention of Borussia Dortmund.

Dmitry Kharin

He moved to Chelsea in 1992, having already played in the USSR Championship for Torpedo Moscow, Dynamo and CSKA Moscow, as well as the gold of the Seoul Summer Olympics. Kharin spent seven years in London, playing 146 matches, winning the FA Cup in 1997, the Cup Winners' Cup and the UEFA Super Cup in 1998. Alas, injuries prevented him from achieving greater success: he spent his last seasons at Chelsea as a reservist. Not too asked then and in the Scottish “Celtic” – again affected by the damage.

Igor Dobrovolsky

Midfielder Moscow "Dynamo" rushed abroad in 1990, but in his first foreign team - the Italian "Genoa" - did not really play. The application period is over, so Dobrovolsky was sent on loan first to the Spanish Castellon, then to the Swiss Servette, and then the head coach was replaced in Genoa, who did not need the Russian. Season 92/93 spent in the French “Marseille”, winning the Champions League with him – the first among Russians. However, Dobrovolsky missed the final due to visa problems, and after he refused to enter the field with a temperature of 39, he fell out of favor with the head coach. Then there were the Spanish "Atletico" (19 matches, 1 goal) and the modest German "Fortune" from Dusseldorf. So the career turned out to be ambiguous, but the title of the winner of the Champions League gave Dobrovolsky a pass to our list.