Russian Premier League clubs’ transfer spending in this year’s winter window hit a 14-year low. The Premier League's 16 clubs spent only €6M on transfers between them, the lowest figure for a winter transfer campaign since '01 and a drastic decline from €39M spent in the winter of '14 and €112M in '13. The decline in spending is widely believed to be caused by the poor overall economic conditions and sharp depreciation of the ruble against the U.S. dollar and the Euro. With most squads' budgets set in rubles and revenue also generated in the local currency, the Premier League clubs are having a hard time making ends meet.
THINKING LOCAL: For several years in a row, Russian squads were willing to pay exorbitant transfer fees for players in bid wars with clubs from Europe's top leagues. Similarly, to entice players to come to Russia, they were offered much higher salaries than they could hope for elsewhere. But as Russian clubs are now scraping pennies, they can no longer afford any expensive acquisitions. The highest-value deal was struck by Lokomotiv Moscow, which bought Serbian striker Petar Škuletić from Partizan Belgrade for €3.2M. Although it was Lokomotiv's only acquisition, it made the club the league's biggest spender. League champion CSKA Moscow only spent €750,000 on transfers. Meanwhile, several clubs, including those with the league's biggest budgets, such as Zenit St. Petersburg and Spartak Moscow, did not sign a single new player. Several lower-ranking clubs signed a few free agents and got some players on loan, but did not spend anything on transfers.
Vladimir Kozlov is a writer in Moscow.
