Why Abbosbek Fayzullaev didn’t join Benfica

Abbosbek Fayzullaev’s transfer to Portuguese club Benfica fell through due to the club’s strict stance on not working with Russian teams, Kursiv.media reported.

This was revealed by German Tkachenko, head of Pro Sports Management, in an interview with Sport24. According to him, Benfica made their position clear early in the talks.

“We discussed Fayzullaev with Benfica, but they clearly said: ‘We don’t deal with Russians.’ That ended all contact,” Tkachenko stated.

He noted that unlike Benfica, some European clubs are softening their stance toward Russian players and clubs. He cited Javier Isidoro’s move to Sunderland and Matvey Safonov’s transfer to PSG.

At the same time, the transfer of Braga player Salazar to Zenit or Spartak collapsed due to legal concerns regarding the Russian club shareholders.

Tkachenko emphasized that while there are signs of change, relations between European football markets and Russian clubs have yet to fully normalize. Follow “Zamin” news on “Telegram”