It was with the appearance on the scene of Fedorychev, who spends most of his time in Monaco and is a sponsor of the local football clubs Monaco and Nice, as well as the Monaco tennis tournament, that big money appeared in Dynamo. And, accordingly, increased public attention.
It is possible that Fedorychev is simply copying his more famous colleague Roman Abramovich from London's Chelsea, but the fact remains: the new owner of Dynamo promised to allocate about $150 million for the development of the Moscow club - and is trying to keep his word. It is unknown how much money has been invested in the club's infrastructure, in improving the training base and stadium, in business projects related to football, but even the figures that appear in transfer reports are impressive. Moreover, not only the amounts are curious, but also the direction in which they are moving. Portugal is the country with which, for some unknown reason, Dynamo literally fell in love. And in a short time, an impressive brigade of Portuguese-speaking players appeared in Moscow, and the crowning achievement of such a transformation of a Russian football club into a Russian-Portuguese one was the invitation of a Brazilian head coach, Ivo Wortmann.
Dynamo literally managed to pay almost €70 million to Portuguese clubs (mainly Porto and Sporting) in just six months (from winter to summer)! In winter, Derlei (7.5 million), Cicero (3.5 million), Tiago (3.5 million), Loureiro (2 million), Danny (2 million), Fresho and Jorge Ribeiro, whose transfers were a little cheaper, arrived in Moscow. At the time, it seemed that this invasion of Portuguese and Brazilians was a sensation. Representatives of prosperous European countries (in both social and football terms) had never come to Russia in such numbers. And here...
But, as it turned out, these were just the beginning. And Oleg Romantsev, the coach of Dynamo, who was suspected of having mysterious connections with agents of Portuguese players, as it turned out, had nothing to do with it. In the summer, following Derlei (perhaps the only one from the first batch of Portuguese imports who is truly a high-class footballer) and company, new "colonizers" arrived. Moreover, the amounts paid to Portuguese clubs were incomparable to the winter ones. Portugal midfielder Maniche cost Dynamo €16 million, Greece defender Seitaridis 10 million, Sporting's Nigerian defender Enakarhire 6 million, and another Portugal player Costinha 4 million, and Porto's second (or third, who can tell) goalkeeper Nuno 2.5...
It is interesting how many interpreters the club should have hired for such a herd of foreigners, so that the coaches could explain to their players, who do not understand Russian, what is required of them. It is not surprising that Romantsev resigned, and Kobelev, who temporarily acted as head coach, knew from the start that the club's leaders were not counting on him. Wortmann, a Brazilian, arrived, and very few Russian players remained in Dynamo. It got to the point that interpreters began to be invited for... Russian-speaking players. So that they could understand the Portuguese specialist. Well, Russia cannot be understood with the mind...
Known Russian football agent Konstantin Sarsania spoke simply but succinctly about Dynamo's acquisitions: "I'm in shock! People have nowhere to put their money..." They say that the Portuguese Jorge Mendes, who represents the interests of most of the Moscow club's new players, was simply stunned by the happiness that fell on him, and in Portugal they are perplexed by this. In Europe nowadays they don't pay big sums for footballers even of very high qualification. And Dynamo's bosses, it seems, don't even bargain. Moreover, it is not enough to offer a foreign club very good money for their player. It is also important to interest the player himself by putting a sum with six zeros in his personal contract. One can only imagine what it costs Dynamo to maintain such a Portuguese-speaking colony.
Something else is interesting. Dynamo has not yet received any return on such solid investments. The team is floundering in the middle of the league table and is not trying at all to fight for the championship title. Why was it necessary to start all this fuss? Or does the club's management have nerves of steel and is ready to wait until the Moscow club, nicknamed in Russia in the Portuguese manner - "Dynamo Mashkau" - starts bringing dividends on the football field?
You can't envy those footballers who played for Dynamo back in the spring. Many of them, even well-known outside Russia (for example, Vladimir Beschastnykh, the best scorer in the history of the Russian national team), turned out to be unwanted and were put on the transfer list. The veteran of the Moscow team, Alexander Tochilin, is not yet delighted with his new partners: "You need not only to play flawlessly yourself, but also to prompt your partners. And some of them do not understand Russian speech very well. It's easier to lose your voice than to shout to them. Learn Portuguese? It's not me who is going to Portugal, but they are coming to us. So let them learn Russian. They even have such a clause in their contract. It's wrong for us to talk to them in their language on our own land."
Andrei Kobelev, a lifelong Dynamo player who led the team after Oleg Romantsev's departure, answered diplomatically when asked if there were too many Portuguese in the team: "For me, the nationality of a player does not matter at all. Let there be twenty Portuguese in the lineup, as long as they play for the team. Mentality? People of my generation differed noticeably from foreigners. Today's Russian youth, however, are drawing closer to the West..."
One of the most decorated newcomers to Dynamo is the Greek defender Yurkas Seitaridis. The footballer, who plays on the right side of defense, together with his national team created a real sensation last summer at the European Championship in Portugal. Then the Greek team sensationally became the champion of the continent, and its leading players immediately got the opportunity to try their strength in Europe. Why did the 24-year-old footballer suddenly decide to move from Portugal to Russia?
"I don't see anything strange in this transfer," says Seitaridis. "A year ago I left the Greek championship and moved to the Portuguese one. Now to the Russian one. Who knows, maybe in 2006 I'll end up in a club in another country. Such is football life. But at the same time I don't consider Dynamo as some kind of transit point: all my thoughts now are only about playing for the Moscow team. I'm just saying that a career can take anyone anytime and anywhere."
In a year I didn't manage to become an idol for the Porto fans. Probably they are much more upset about parting with Maniche and Costinha, with whom Porto became the winner of the UEFA Cup and the Champions League. Be that as it may, the fans also have a reason for optimism. From the deals with the Moscow club, Porto received a significant amount that can be used to strengthen the squad.
Alexei Fedorychev made an excellent impression on me. He said he is building a team of European level. The purchase of Maniche and Costinha confirms the seriousness of his intentions. It is very interesting to be at the origins of such a big project. There is an opportunity to go from the middle of the Russian championship table to the heights of European cups. I consulted my parents, they did not object to my moving to Moscow. I will not be disingenuous claiming that money is in last place for me. A significant increase in salary compared to the Portuguese club is another motive for transferring to Dynamo.
The midfielder of the Portuguese national team, vice-champion of Europe, winner of the UEFA Cup and the Champions League, Costinha also gladly accepted the offer of Moscow Dynamo: "I am used to accepting the challenges of fate. A much more serious test for me was at 23 to get from a second division team to Monaco and immediately after that to the Portuguese national team. Monaco, after all, by European standards, was rated higher than today's Dynamo. However, this is fixable. When I first met Senor Fedorychev, listened to him, saw how his eyes sparkled, I realized that something truly serious was being planned in this club. He infected me with enthusiasm, and although later there were offers from other, more famous European clubs, I already wanted only one thing: to take part in the Dynamo project. I hope I can live up to the level of tasks facing the team."
It was long said that another midfielder of the Portuguese national team and holder of the same impressive collection of international titles - Maniche - would move to Moscow. After all, in winter his younger brother Jorge Ribeiro came to Dynamo: "What goal do I set for the season? To settle in the new club as soon as possible, show everything I can, and help Dynamo perform as well as possible in the current championship. Even a year ago I couldn't even think that one day I would become a player of a Russian club. But then an offer came from Dynamo. I know that other Russian teams were also interested in me, but Dynamo overtook everyone, and the option they offered seemed the most attractive to both me and Porto. As a result, I quickly got used to the idea of going to Russia.
By the way, my brother doesn't regret coming here at all. Even the opposite. Both about Russia and the club I heard only good words from him. And also from other guys who already play here. So I intend to settle in Moscow seriously. And I'll bring my six-year-old daughter - she will attend an English school."
The Portuguese hardly feel lonely in Dynamo and in Moscow. For example, Cicero's father came with him and attends all Dynamo home matches. Forward Derlei - a Brazilian with a Portuguese passport - also brought his family with him. Moreover, the family is him, his wife, two sons, mother-in-law and a maid. At the same time, the striker, who tries not to lose face in front of coaches and fans, is quite informed about the country he came to: "The Soviet Union is one of the most developed countries in the world. We were told about that in college history lessons. First there was the USSR, then Russia. I heard a lot about Mikhail Gorbachev, he was your prime minister or president. I know another of your leaders - Yeltsin. The press, especially the American one, likes to write not very good things about your people. The USA generally wants to be first everywhere, so their task is to show the negative sides of Russia.
I once promised that three months after arriving in Russia I would give an interview in Russian. I got a little carried away. It so happened that there were training camps for about a month, another month went to treatment, and there was no time to study with a teacher. But I already know all the words I need on the field: "left", "right" and others.
I already have favorite places in Moscow, although there isn't much time to walk around the city. My friend Dmitry Alenichev, with whom we won the UEFA Cup and the Champions League as part of Porto, promised to show me the sights, but we just can't manage to meet. He plays for Spartak, I play for Dynamo. Either he is training, or I am. Moreover, he lives not in Moscow, but outside the city. But I heard that you have a very beautiful metro. I asked an interpreter to accompany me, and we drove from the city center to the Dynamo station. I liked it - beautiful, very pleasant."
Returning to Dynamo's results in the Russian championship, which are unlikely to please the club's owners, we note that Alexei Fedorychev is trying to be tolerant and not to act rashly: “There can be no talk of defeatist moods. This is life; we have already been through this at Monaco. We face the task of creating a club of serious European standard, and we have no intention of retreating. We will develop the infrastructure, not forgetting about strengthening the squad. Several signings were made in the winter, some of the players suited the coach, others did not. It is already obvious that we should have bought another two or three footballers. However, we are ready for anything: the names of potential newcomers are well known, but how they will manage to blend into the team and show themselves on the football field - only the coach knows. And even he finds it hard to foresee everything. If three or four out of seven footballers ultimately turn out to be suitable, that is normal. I consider the acquisitions correct both from a financial and a football point of view...”