Former CSKA striker Valery Masalitin spoke about the possible departure of the red-blue defender Igor Diveev to Zenit at the end of his contract with the army team. The specialist noted that Diveev will fit into the game model built by Zenit’s head coach Sergey Semak, but, according to Masalitin, it would be better if the football player himself tried his hand at a foreign championship.
“Diveev is currently one of the best defenders of our championship, he plays constantly in the club, he is called up to the national team. I think it will fit seamlessly into the Semak system. This is a reliable central defender. What CSKA has signed and re-signed with him is the internal affairs of the club. But if he has options for me, it is better to go abroad and prove himself there.”
According to media reports, Zenit is monitoring the situation with the extension of Diveev’s contract with CSKA. His current contract with the army expires in 2024. Recall that Diveev moved to CSKA from Ufa in 2019, at first he played in the army team on loan, after a while a full contract was signed with him.
At the same time, the football player missed most of the 2022/23 season of the Russian Premier League (RPL) due to a serious injury. In September 2022, Diveev was diagnosed with a fracture of the tibia, the football player had been recovering for several months and did not play in the autumn part of the championship, but began to appear on the field after the resumption of the season.
Former striker of the Russian national team Dmitry Bulykin declarationThis does not see Zenit as the hegemon of Russian football.