The drama around Roman Shirokov seems to be finally coming to its end after news reports that he would play for Krasnodar on loan.

 

Spartak midfielder has apparently had a row with the team’s coach who often kept him on the bench.

 

The rising star had a difficult season in Zenit St. Petersburg and a surgery, missing the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

 

It is rumoured to have started in a Supercup game against Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk.

According to Sovetsky Sport, Shirokov blamed the head coach of Zenit St. Petersburg for the crisis in the team and flew to Moscow the next day.

The official reason for the departure is said to be the midfielder’s heel injury. 

However, the rumours of tension between the head coach and Shirokov have been circulating in the press for a long time now. 

Previouslu, Spalletti fell out with another midfielder, Igor Denisov, who had to move to Anzhi Makhachkala, and later to Dynamo Moscow, after he demanded a pay rise.

The hell broke loose after Gazprom, Zenit’s main sponsor, splurged 100 million euro on two foreign players, Hulk and Axel Witsel. Hulk’s salary was reported to be higher than those of Zenit’s old-timers like Shirokov, Denisov and Kerzhakov. The situation inside the team deteriorated, with the club finishing second in Premier League last season.

Spalletti does not care about the record of Russian players, and may well oust most of the old guard from the team, says Alexander Bubnov, a columnist at Sovetsky Sport.

Among other players who are having a rough time now are midfielder Vladimir Bystrov who will play in Anzhi Makhachkala on loan, defender Alexander Anyukov, replaced by Igor Smolnikov, and goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeyev, replaced by Yury Lodygin. 

 

The captain of the national team, Roman Shirokov, underwent surgery in Finland. Due to the injury, he was out of the lineup for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Many pundits then blamed Russia’s lackluster performance on Shirokov’s absence.

Sources: http://news.sport-express.ru