Oreste Cinquini, who led the Russian national team during Fabio Capello’s tenure from 2012 to 2015 and later served as Zenit’s sporting director in 2017-2018, explained why Artem Dzyuba struggled to find a foothold in Turkish football and called him the best football player. Cinquini stressed that Dzyuba was a strong asset for Russia and noted that his comments reflected the perspective of Soviet sport punditry.
On the field, Cinquini pointed to a series of off-field challenges that affected Dzyuba’s consistency. He attributed those issues to problems off the pitch that sometimes impeded his progression, shaping his character in ways that limited his impact in Europe. Cinquini suggested that the striker did not fit the traditional European mold, describing him as not a typical European player in the sense of adapting seamlessly to all continental styles.
Dzyuba spent a spell with Adana Demirspor in Turkey from August to November 2022, adding another chapter to a career marked by movement across leagues.
In the prior season, Dzyuba signed with Lokomotiv and later extended the deal under a 1+1 arrangement. In that season, he appeared in 16 Russian Premier League matches and four National Cup fixtures, contributing four goals and three assists. It was a season where he shared the team’s top-scoring honors with Izidor and Miranchuk, despite contributing only for half of the campaign. These numbers underscored his ability to influence games when fit and available, even as he navigated transitions between clubs and competitions.
Looking ahead, Dzyuba has spoken about life after football, outlining considerations for what comes next after his playing days. The reflections emphasize the typical questions many professional players face as they weigh long-term plans beyond the pitch, including how to translate on-field experiences into future roles within the sport or outside of it. This perspective has remained a consistent theme as his career has evolved across different leagues and roles, illustrating the balance between current performance and future opportunities in a player’s career path.