Transfer tales – summer sagas
Two of Moscow’s clubs have been engaged in long-running transfer sagas this summer – but while one of them was officially resolved this week, another is set to continue still further.
The done deal was confirmed at CSKA, where Alexander Radulov (pictured) put pen to paper on a four-year deal. The 26-year-old forward, widely regarded as one of the brightest talents in the Russian game, had been traded to CSKA by previous club Salavat Yulaev last month, but speculation remained that he might choose to seek a new NHL contract rather than return to Russia.
Earlier this week, though, Radulov confirmed his place on a new-look CSKA roster, and is expected to play a key part in returning the club to its former glories. With additional funding made available from oil giant Rosneft, hopes are high for a successful season for the Army Men. And, according to Russian newspaper Izvestiya, the club’s new owners have been in talks with double world championship winning coach Vyacheslav Bykov about a possible return to CSKA. Bykov has been out of the game since leaving Salavat Yulaev after the Gagarin Cup triumph of 2011, but told reporters he had been in “meaningful dialog” with Rosneft bosses and could take a place on the club’s board of trustees.
Across the capital at Dynamo, however, uncertainty still surrounds the future of rising star Mikhail Anisin. The 24-year-old forward moved to the Blue-and-Whites in January, and it had been widely assumed he would stay with the club after his goals helped Dynamo lift the Gagarin Cup in April.
However, his previous club, Vityaz, retains the rights to the player and despite earlier announcements from Dynamo that a deal was all but concluded, KHL chiefs announced on Tuesday that Anisin – for the moment, at least – remains a Vityaz player.
One further confirmed transfer has seen defenseman Alexander Seluyanov move from Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk to Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk. Seluyanov was something of a cult hero after helping Metallurg Magnitogorsk win the Russian Superleague title in 2007.
