By Andrew Warshaw
September 25 – Russian national team captain Igor Denisov has lashed out at the extravagant salaries paid to new signings Hulk and Axel Witsel at his club Zenit St Petersburg in the latest spat over Russia’s role as the cash-rich new player on the global transfer stage.
Denisov (pictured top) reportedly questioned whether the new acquisitions, bought for a joint €100 million (£80 million/$130 million) in the summer, deserved to earn triple the salaries of some other players at Zenit.
Hulk (pictured below, left) reportedly signed a €6.5 million (£5.1 million/$8.4 million) annual contract after joining from Porto, while former Benfica midfielder Witsel (pictured below, right) was awarded just under half that amount.
“We’ve definitely bought good players who will certainly help Zenit,” Denisov told Russian daily Sport-Express.
“But are they really that much stronger than the current players that they get three times as much?”
Hulk and Witsel, purchased by Zenit’s wealthy sponsors Gazprom in early September, were not good enough to command such wages, Denisov claimed.
“I’d understand it if [Lionel] Messi or [Andres] Iniesta came to us, they probably deserve any sum,” he said.
Denisov and Russian leading scorer Aleksandr Kerzhakov were relegated to the youth squad on Sunday (September 23) after voicing their opinions over the new signings who represent direct competition for both of them.
The club issued a statement calling Denisov’s behaviour “unprofessional” and noting that he still had three more years left on a contract that made him one of the highest-paid players in Russia.
Zenit’s general director Maxim Mitrofanov told Sport-Express that unless Denisov backs down he will have to work out his contract in the youth squad with no possibility of transfer to another club.
“The only option for Igor in this situation is to apologise to the team, the club, the fans and the shareholders,” he insisted.
“Only then can the option of his return to the first team be considered.”
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