Due to the long-awaited hack between Spartak and Zenit, it was easy to miss the top news – the reigning Russian champion has scheduled the second full-fledged transfer to the entrance this season. If in the first place Petersburg compensated for the loss of Branislav Ivanovich with the purchase of Dejan Lovren, now it is time to think about the center of the field.
Zenit’s object of interest is Sporting’s 23-year-old Brazilian midfielder Vale Wendel. There has not yet been an official announcement of the transfer, but one of the player’s representatives, Cesar Barbieri, told Sport24 that the transfer has already taken place.
“The deal on the transfer of Wendel to Zenit is closed. His contract is for 5 years. He should fly to Russia next week, ”the agent said.
It remains to figure out who decided to strengthen in St. Petersburg before the start in the Champions League.
Wendel is Sporting’s most valuable player. CSKA tried to sign him
The Brazilian midfielder was praised in the RPL three years ago. Then Wendela tried to take CSKA, and Vitinho, who played for the red and blue, poured compliments on his compatriot, noting that the midfielder would definitely strengthen the Moscow team.
But it didn’t work out. Wendel, playing for the Brazilian Fluminense (this club began his career), in the 2016/2017 season only moved from the youth team to the main team, but has already attracted the attention of the top. CSKA General Director Roman Babaev explained that it was difficult for the club to compete in a dispute for a player with Manchester City and PSG.
In the end, Wendel only left for Sporting (7.5 million euros) and in two and a half years in Portugal became the most expensive asset of his team (12 million according to transfermarkt). Two full seasons were enough for him.
In the last championship of Portugal, Wendel shot three goals and made three assists – this is the most productive season of his career. Largely due to this, over the past summer, the price of the midfielder has jumped dramatically – by four million at once.
Zenit had a chance to take the player earlier – in fact, Ribalta was interested in Wendel back in the spring. But six months ago, the midfielder was considered only as a potential replacement for Barrios in case he left the St. Petersburg club.
Now you have to overpay: according to the Portuguese edition of Record, the Russian club will pay 20 million plus 4 in bonuses for the player. Well, and also to get rid of Rigoni in order to squeeze into the limit – the most likely option is called “Sochi”.
How Wendel plays
Zenit clearly lacks a high-quality top ten, which would make it possible to play combinational football at someone else’s penalty area, and not slip into endless canopies and long-range shots, as it was in the match with Spartak. But Wendel is not that kind of player at all.
The Brazilian is a central midfielder, albeit multifunctional. Most often, he plays the ball. Including drops on the same line with the defenders to help out from under pressure. Thanks to competent reading of the game and dribbling, Wendel either builds walls with partners, or drags the ball on his own.
Another feature of Wendell is the cutting passes through the lines. He has great ball control and scans the pitch for space to accelerate or pass. Unlike, for example, Urunov, the Brazilian can not only beat rivals in the center of the field from the spot, but also competently disclose attacks, collecting several rivals. Diagonals to the flanks are another strong point of the Brazilian. Zenit, which focuses on playing on the flanks, will come in handy.
Wendel last season became the 12th player in the Portuguese Primeira in the number of assists – above him only the central and full backs. In Sporting, he is the most passing player. Wendel is a player who constructs attacks from the depths. At the same time, his influence on the attack in the final stage is not so great – he makes 1.1 key passes per match. For example, Vlašić has 2.1 this season, De Paul has 3.3. Last season was the most productive for Wendel in three years in Portugal – 3 goals and 2 assists. In short, you should not expect feats in attack from him, but help in constructing the game in the center is quite.
The question is how Zenit will use it. Yes, situationally, Wendel can be promoted to the position of the tenth number, in addition to everything, he has a long-range strike. But best of all, the Brazilian shows himself in depth, where he can deploy attacks and drag the ball between the lines. On the one hand, this will make it possible to rotate him in the support zone with Barrios and Ozdoev. Both Zenit midfielders are clearly inferior to Wendel in terms of handling the ball and moving forward. But at the same time, Wendel is weak in selection, sometimes he loses position and is turned off from positional defense. In general, this is the player who must be insured.
Probably, at the expense of Wendel, Semak is thinking of establishing a passing game in the center of the field. Now Rakitskiy, Santos or Lovren, when leaving the defense, most often look for forwards with long passes. The arrival of Wendel will give the option to move the ball through the center of the field from the bottom. An important function for playing with the underdogs to hack their defenses, but how much this will help Zenit in the Champions League is a question.
It seems that the team needed a slightly different player.
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