Brazilian defender Mario Fernandez with Russian citizenship, Zenit St. Petersburg signed a working contract. It has been reported sports24.
According to the source, the deal was signed for two years. The delay in the official announcement of the transfer is due to the fact that Zenit will play with CSKA for the Russian Super Cup on July 15.
The presentation of the actress is scheduled for July 17.
Brazilian journalist Alexandre Pretzel reported Fernandez’s possible transfer to Zenit on July 6. The defender spent ten years in the Moscow team, winning the national championship three times and the Cup of Russia once.
Before the last game of CSKA in the 2021/22 season, it was learned that the 31-year-old former defender of the Russian national team, Fernandez, decided to take a break from his career indefinitely. Then, in December 2022, the football player, who was allowed to play in Brazil Internacional on loan from CSKA, spent a few months with the team and left the team in April 2023.
As part of the Russian national team, Fernandez reached the quarter-finals of the 2018 World Cup, where Russian players lost to future assistant champions Croatians.
Former head coach of the Russian national team Igor Korneev criticized Mario Fernandez for moving to Zenit.