Saturday, May 14, 2005
Dinamo Moscow came into agreement with FC Porto on a deal bringing two stars of Portugal’s national team, Maniche and Costinha into the Russian club. Their transfer cost was 16 and 4 million euros respectively, making this the most expensive transfer deal in Russian football. The head of Dinamo’s board of directors, Alexey Fedorychev, is among the wealthiest Russian businessmen and he is responsible for making the money available to the club. Another Dinamo transfer target is the Greek footballer Seitaridis, also playing for Porto, but this deal has not yet been confirmed.
Meanwhile, in a Russian Premier League match Saturday with Amkar Perm Dinamo Moscow suffered its fourth defeat in a row 1-2, dropping to 9th place. Amkar (one of the poorest teams in Premier League) on the other hand, won the second match in a row. Despite conceding an early goal, Amkar was able to fight back, score from a penalty and secure a slender lead to win the away game.
Despite numerous signings between seasons and hiring a new coach, Oleg Romantsev, Dinamo’s performance is far from the best. Last season saw them at 14th place (out of 16), barely avoiding relegation, and the start of a new season isn’t promising either. It is yet to be seen, whether the new signings can help the club join the ranks of the top RPL teams, such as Lokomotiv Moscow and CSKA Moscow.