Krasnodar captain and the leader of the RPL title race, Eduard Spertsyan, spoke about potential transfers, interest from European clubs, and his stance on leaving the club. In an interview with Championat.com, Spertsyan explained in detail why he remains in Russia despite numerous offers.
The midfielder confirmed that over the past year, clubs such as Borussia, Juventus, Inter, Lazio, Lens, Girona, Fiorentina, and even PSG had shown interest in him. However, there were no concrete offers from the Parisians—only his agent held talks in the French capital.
The most realistic offer came from Lens in the summer of 2023. However, the amount offered by the French club was lower than what Ajax had proposed a year earlier. Spertsyan noted that he could not demand a transfer when the fee for him was decreasing, despite his progress as a player.
"As for PSG, my agent was in Paris, she had some discussions about me, and that was it. And, if I'm not mistaken, they asked Moti Safonov about me and a few other players. But there were no offers or calls. I didn’t talk to anyone. Lens made the most concrete offer in the summer. The rest—those are questions for my club. There was interest from Juventus, some discussions. Girona approached Krasnodar with an offer in the summer. Leeds also made a proposal, yes, this winter. A few weeks ago, not at the end of the window," Spertsyan said.
The player emphasized that he was ready to move to any of the interested clubs. However, a crucial factor for a transfer is a serious offer, which did not arrive this winter. Leeds, in particular, showed interest, but there was no concrete follow-up from the English club. The Armenian midfielder noted that he wouldn’t have minded even a move to a Championship club.
"Why not? They will most likely get promoted to the Premier League; they are in first place. But Krasnodar is also in first place. Yes, I want to leave, but I can’t just abandon the club. For me to be allowed to leave in the winter, the offer had to be very good, and the club had to really want to sign me. That kind of offer just wasn’t there this winter," he said.
Spertsyan admitted that in the summer of 2023, when Ajax was an option, he was extremely anxious and lived in anticipation of the transfer. However, he no longer fixates on the idea:
"I play for the strongest club in Russia, I came through the best academy. If someone comes for me, I will leave."
The midfielder also stated that he did not feel jealous about his teammate, goalkeeper Matvey Safonov, moving to PSG.
"You look at him and realize that everything is possible. If I end up leaving this summer, it will be a beautiful story—we will both leave at 25," Spertsyan shared.
Spertsyan does not believe he has "outgrown" the Russian league, even though at times his level of play makes him think about moving on. He emphasizes that the RPL remains a challenging competition despite a general decline in quality.
"I want to win the title with Krasnodar, I want to move to Europe. I’m 24 years old—why should I lower my standards?"
The player admitted that he frequently discusses the topic of Europe with Krasnodar’s owner, Sergey Galitsky, but keeps the details of those conversations private. As for interest from Zenit, Spertsyan was aware of it but never had direct contact with the club and firmly rejected the possibility of a transfer.
"A conversation about Zenit would be very short, no matter how much money they offered," he noted.