2013-14 Season Preview Part 1 - The Title Challengers

So with the RPL season kicking off this weekend, I thought I'd go ahead and give a brief overview of each squad, what they've achieved in the offseason and where I think they'll finish this season. First up is the title challengers.

CSKA Moscow

Transfers In:

Georgi Milanov
Steven Zuber

Transfers Out:

Uros Cosic
Artur Nigmatullin
Petr Ten (loan)

CSKA have not done much to strengthen over the summer, with Leonid Slutsky obviously content with most areas of his squad. However, he has brought in Georgi Milanov and Steven Zuber to fill out the midfield depth chart in preparation for the departure of Keisuke Honda, who is expected to leave for Milan in the immediate future. For me, they haven't done enough to cover for the increasing age of their central defence and will see problems as Sergei Ignashevich's age finally begins to catch up with him.
Last Season - 1st
Prediction - 2nd

Zenit St. Petersburg

Transfers In:

Andrei Arshavin
Yuri Lodygin
Ivan Solovyov
Anatoliy Tymoschuk

Transfers Out:

Bruno Alves
Igor Cheminava
Igor Denisov
Mikhail Kerzhakov
Sergei Semak

Zenit have seen a large decrease in quality throughout the spine of their squad over the offseason. The departure of Igor Denisov to a direct rival will greatly harm the team's chances of challenging for the title, despite the return of Andrei Arshavin and Anatoliy Tymoschuk to the club. The centre of midfield in particular has seen a depth problem arise and I don't really think that they'll get going through the middle of the season, so I predict them to finish 4th.
Last Season - 2nd
Prediction - 4th

Anzhi Makhachkala

Transfers In:

Igor Denisov
Aleksei Ionov
Mikhail Kerzhakov
Aleksandr Kokorin
Christopher Samba

Transfers Out:

Kamil Agalarov
Nikita Burmistrov (loan)
Evgenni Pomazan (loan)
Serder Serderov (loan)

Anzhi have greatly strengthened the centre of their midfield at the cost of one of their closest rivals, Zenit, and have also improved their defence with the return of Christopher Samba. While defence may still be an issue due to weakness at fullback, Anzhi's attack should more than overcome any defensive frailties and for that reason, I expect them to finally take the title.
Last Season - 3rd
Prediction - 1st

Spartak Moscow

Transfers In:

Tino Costa
Denis Glushakov
Jose Manuel Jurado

Transfers Out:

Demy de Zeeuw
Igor Gorbatenko
Zhano Ananidze (loan)
Artem Dzyuba (loan)
Nikolai Fadeev (loan)
Dmitri Kayumov (loan)

Spartak have had a huge offseason, greatly strengthening the centre of the pitch by replacing Demy de Zeeuw and Ognen Vukjevic with Denis Glushakov and Tino Costa, as well as the return of Jose Manuel Jurado. A hopeful return to fitness of Sergei Parshivlyuk and Romulo could catapult Spartak to the title, but that may be too optimistic, so I'll predict them to finish in 3rd, close behind CSKA.
Last Season - 4th
Prediction - 3rd

Next up is the preview of the Europa League hopefuls - Kuban, Rubin, Dinamo and Lokomotiv.

Rumour Roundup: July 10th, 2013

It's been a big week for RPL transfers, so this is a somewhat longer Rumour Roundup than usual.

Done Deals:
Aleksandr Kokorin has completed his €19 million move from Dynamo to Anzhi. He joins a stacked frontline that also includes Samuel Eto'o and Lacina Traore and is supported by Yuri Zhirkov and Willian. This move will hopefully put an end to rumours about strikers going to Anzhi, but maybe I'm being a bit too optimistic.

Djibril Cisse has joined Kuban Krasnodar on a free transfer, having last played for Al-Gharafa on loan from Queen's Park Rangers. The former Liverpool striker has been out of form since leaving Panathinaikos in 2011 and will hope to reboot his career in order to break into the French national team.

Demy de Zeeuw has sealed his permanent transfer from Spartak Moscow to Belgian side Anderlecht. de Zeeuw played for Anderlecht on loan in the second half of last season, making six appearances, and is believed to be coming to the club for free.

Spartak's Zhano Ananidze has joined Rostov on loan for the entirety of the 2013-14 RPL season, where he will join fellow Spartak loanee Artem Dzyuba. Ananidze made his Spartak debut back in 2009, becoming the youngest ever player in the RPL, following up by becoming the youngest ever scorer in the competition just under 3 weeks later.

Nicolas Pareja has joined Sevilla on loan due to a lack of playing time at Spartak. Since Valery Karpin has resumed control of Spartak, Pareja has found it hard to beat out players such as Marek Suchy, Juan Insuarralde and Salvatore Bocchetti for a position in the centre of defence. He will reunite with Unai Emery at Sevilla, as Emery is known to rate Pareja and will likely give the defender playing time.

Looking Likely:
Norwich City have made an offer for Lokomotiv's Senegalese forward Dame N'Doye in the region of €7 million. Chris Hughton is believed to want a striker to partner new signing Ricky van Wolfswinkel at striker and has been given extra funds due to the Premier League's new broadcast deal. Lokomotiv's asking price is believed to be in the region of €11.5 million.

50/50:
Luis Neto has left his Zenit future up in the air after refusing to rule out a move away from the St. Petersburg club. Having been linked heavily with Inter Milan, the Portuguese defender is thought to be valued by his club at around €12 million and is not expected to leave unless an offer in this region is made.

Leonid Slustky has declared that CSKA has yet to receive a concrete offer for Keisuke Honda's transfer. Having been heavily linked with a move to AC Milan, Honda was expected to leave the club in the coming days, however the move looks to have been stalled until Milan make a substantial offer for the Japanese midfielder's services.

Anzhi have been linked with wantaway Manchester United winger Nani, who has also been linked with Tottenham, Roma and Galatasaray. Nani has struggled for playing time behind the likes of Wayne Rooney, Shinji Kagawa and Antonio Valencia and seems willing to leave the club for more regular starts. United's asking price is believed to be in the region of €14 million and former United coach Rene Muelensteen could be key in bringing the Portuguese winger to Anzhi.

Low Chance:
Hulk has stated that he is happy to stay Zenit if no offer comes in from a "better team in a better competition". Hulk has been linked with both Chelsea and Tottenham for more than a year, but both teams appear to have cooled off their interest in recent weeks after the Brazilian had a poor season by his standards.

Salomon Rondon has denied that a move to Manchester City is in the works, claiming that he "has no formal knowledge" about Manuel Pellegrini's reported interest. Pellegrini is believed to want Rondon at City to replace recent departure Carlos Tevez, who has just joined Juventus.

Rumour Roundup: July 3rd, 2013

A few highly touted moves have either been completed in the last week or look set to be completed in the coming days, along with a few moves that have come out of nowhere. Let's take a look.

Done Deals:
Andrei Arshavin has finally rejoined Zenit on a free transfer. He made 308 appearances for the club between 2000 and 2009, scoring 75 goals before leaving to join Arsenal. His time in London was marked with inconsistency, eventually scoring 31 goals, including 4 in a 4-4 draw with Liverpool, in 143 appearances. He rejoined Zenit on loan in 2012, but the club opted to wait until his contract expired before making a permanent move for the former Russia captain.

Christopher Samba has rejoined Anzhi just 6 months after leaving them to join Queen's Park Rangers. Anzhi chairman Souleymane Kerimov claimed that "[Samba] expressed interest...Plus, the guys asked for him". It is believed that Anzhi made a profit in the region of €3.4 million, having sold Samba for €15 million and repurchased him for €11.6 million.

Spartak forward Artem Dzyuba has joined Rostov on loan for a season. Dzyuba had struggled for form in the tail end of last season and had found himself falling behind Ari and Waris in the pecking order for the crucial second striker role, so this move could improve his chances at Spartak when he returns or find him a suitor elsewhere.

Looking Likely:
Keisuke Honda is believed to have agreed personal terms with AC Milan, although this has yet to be confirmed by the player, Milan or his current club, CSKA Moscow. Honda's current deal expires in December and he has indicated that his time in Moscow has come to an end.

Aleksandr Kokorin has told Dynamo's board that he wishes to join Anzhi to further his career, although financial motives are suspected. Anzhi are apparently willing to pay Kokorin's €19 million release clause, meaning a move should be completed within the next few days.

50/50:
Ari's time at Spartak looks to be nearing an end as he has been told that he will train and play with the club's reserve team until his contract expires in December, unless a team is willing to purchase him beforehand. This is the second move in as many days that indicates that Spartak is looking to completely reshape its strikeforce.

Spartak central defender Nicolas Pareja is reportedly edging towards a move to Sevilla, where he will reunite with former Spartak manager Unai Emery. Since Emery left the club, Pareja has struggled to get starts ahead of Juan Manuel Insuarralde and Marek Suchy, so this move could be a chance to get playing time for Pareja under a manager who rates him.

Dynamo defender Gordon Schildenfeld is looking to move away from Moscow and his agent has claimed that a number of English clubs are interested in his client. Schildenfeld has fallen out of favour at Dinamo and spent last season on loan at Greek side PAOK Salonika.

Low Chance:
Anzhi look set to miss out on Vitesse striker Wilfried Bony after Swansea reportedly had a €12 million offer accepted by the Dutch club. Bony has scored 52 goals in 71 games at Vitesse, including 37 in 36 this season.

Rumour Roundup: June 26th, 2013

We've actually had some big and highly anticipated moves rumoured this week, so let's jump right in and have a look at them.

Done Deals:
Zenit players Igor Denisov and Mikhail Kerzhakov have joined Anzhi for a combined fee of €15.5 million. Denisov made 253 appearances in 11 years at the club, scoring 23 goals and being capped for the Russian national team 37 times. Kerzhakov was not nearly as successful, failing to make a league appearance for the club and only being capped for the under-21 national team 3 times.

Spartak Moscow have announced that Schalke 04 midfielder Jose Manuel Jurado has joined the team on a permanent transfer, having spent the 2012-13 season on loan at the club, making 18 appearances in the league and scoring 3 goals.

Looking Likely:
Anzhi are looking to complete the signing of either Newcastle's Senegalese forward Papiss Demba Cisse or Vitesse's Ivorian striker Wilfried Bony. They plan to offer Newcastle €18 million for Cisse's services, which is about €12 million short of the asking price, while they also face competition from Swansea for Bony.

50/50:
New Everton manager Roberto Martinez wants to swoop for Spartak winger Aiden McGeady and CSKA playmaker Keisuke Honda. Both McGeady and Honda have long been linked with moves away from their clubs and have both gone on record as saying they would be willing to move this summer, with their contracts expiring in December this year (Honda) and June next year (McGeady. Martinez came close to signing McGeady for Wigan on deadline day in January, but was unable to agree terms. Meanwhile, Honda has been heavily linked with AC Milan in recent weeks.

Anzhi utility player Odil Akhmedov has claimed that Arsenal scouts have been watching him play and are interested in a €4 million move. If the move were to be completed, Akhmedov would become the first Uzbek to play in the English Premier League

Low Chance:

Polish midfielder Maciej Rybus has stated he will not be leaving Terek Grozny this summer, despite being linked with clubs such as Zenit in recent weeks. Since joining last summer, Rybus has played 30 league games, scoring a respectable 7 goals.

Rumour Roundup: June 19th, 2013

So finally we've seen some transfers push through this week, some of which have been both interesting and perplexing. Let's jump into it.

Done Deals:
Lokomotiv midfielder Denis Glushakov has crossed town and joined rivals Spartak for an undisclosed fee. An article confirming the transfer was posted on Spartak's website before being removed and then reposted with no official explanation.

Versatile Ukrainian defender Taras Mykhalyk has joined Lokomotiv Moscow on a free transfer after his contract at Dynamo Kiev expired, signing a 3 year contract. The 29-year-old joined Dynamo in 2013 and made 124 league appearances in his time there.

Anzhi striker Serder Serderov has joined newly promoted Ural Yekaterinburg on loan until the end of the 2013-14 season. Serderov has made just 4 appearances for Anzhi since joining from CSKA Moscow last summer, scoring no goals.

Looking Likely:
Denis Cheryshev looks set to leave Real Madrid as he has continued to be linked with moves away from the club. In addition to reported interest from Manchester United, Spartak Moscow, Borussia Dortmund and Sevilla, he has been linked to a part-swap deal for Malaga's Isco.

Igor Denisov has been linked with a move to Anzhi by former Zenit player Sergei Vedeneev. Vedeneev stated that "Zenit have already bought his replacement in Tymoschuk", whilst also claiming that Mikhail Kerzhakov could make a move to the Makhachkala club.

50/50:
Zenit midfielder Roman Shirokov has stated that he has a "deep down desire to play in a European club" but that he has "not received any concrete offer". Both Monaco and Liverpool have been linked with the central midfielder in recent weeks.

Balazs Dzsudzsak's agent has claimed that Liverpool and Internazionale have an interest in his client and have made enquiries. Dzsudzsak joined Dinamo Moscow in January 2012 and made 27 appearances last season, scoring 5 goals and making 10 assists

Low Chance:

Anzhi has distanced itself from moves for Fredy Guarin, Roberto Soldado and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, stating that "these assumptions are without substance". 

Zenit central midfielder Axel Witsel has claimed that he is "not thinking about leaving Zenit" despite interest from Paris Saint-Germain. Witsel has struggled for form since joining Zenit last summer for €40 million, but is only 24 and has managed to nail down a first team spot in St. Petersburg.

Rumour Roundup: June 12th, 2013

Thus far it has been quite a slow week for transfer rumours, so today there's a shorter Rumour Roundup than usual. On non-transfer related news, Samuel Eto'o was named the Russian Premier League's best player for the 2012-13 season, which is absolutely ridiculous.

Done Deals:
Rubin's Gokhan Tore has joined Turkish side Besiktas on a season long loan deal with an option to buy. The young winger had shown some bright spots since signing from Hamburg last summer, but has been mostly out of favour and only managed to make 5 league appearances over the course of the season.

Tino Costa has completed his €7 million switch from Valencia to Spartak Moscow. The Argentinian midfielder was forced to depart Spain due to heavy financial problems that plagued his club, which could also see players such as Sergio Canales and Roberto Soldado follow Costa out the exit door in the summer.

Looking Likely:

CSKA Moscow have reportedly offered former Arsenal midfielder Denilson a contract ahead of interest from Turkish and German clubs. The Brazilian midfielder has not made an appearance for Arsenal since 2011 and spent the last 3 years on loan at Santos before his contract at his parent club expired at the end of the 2012-13 season.

50/50:
Spanish midfielder Esteban Granero could be swapping Queen's Park Rangers for Rubin Kazan in the wake of his club's relegation from the English Premier League. This past week, Granero's agent confirmed that he would be leaving QPR and that Russian clubs were interested. Rubin seems to be leading the chase, however Anzhi appear to be following the situation closely as well.

3 Rubin stars could be set to leave the Kazan club on free transfers in December after Vladimir Dyadyun revealed that he was "surprised" that no one at the club has contacted him, Bibras Natkho or Aleksandr Ryazantsev regarding their expiring contracts.

Irish winger Aiden McGeady has admitted that he may leave Spartak Moscow this summer amidst interest from Everton. He recently stated that the club may decide to cash in on him considering that his contract expires in little over a year, but that he is not bothered to stay in Moscow next season.

Low Chance:

Spartak are planning a move for Real Madrid Castilla winger Denis Cheryshev, but could be beaten to the starlet by Manchester United. Cheryshev has impressed for Russia's youth national teams and made his debut for the senior national team in November, although he has never actually played for a Russian club.

Rumour Roundup: June 5th, 2013

Welcome to the first ever transfer rumour roundup on From Beyond the Iron Curtain. Each week I'll sort transfer rumours into four categories: completed deal, looking likely, 50/50 and low chance of completion. Let's get underway.

Completed Deals:
Ukraine captain Anatoliy Tymoshchuk will return to Zenit on a free transfer on July 1st. The 34-year-old previously spent 2 years at the St. Petersburg club, scoring 18 goals in 100 appearances, before moving to Bayern Munich, where he earned two UEFA Champion's League runners up medals and lifted the trophy once.

Looking Likely:
Valencia midfielder Tino Costa appears to be close to sealing a move to Spartak Moscow for a fee in the range of €7 million. It is believed that personal terms and a fee have been agreed, although the playmaker still needs to complete a medical

Andrei Arshavin could return to Zenit on a free transfer when his contract at Arsenal expires on July 1st. The former Russia captain moved to Arsenal from the St. Petersburg club in 2009 but found playing time hard to come by and moved back on loan in the second half of the 2011-12 season.

CSKA playmaker Keisuke Honda has declared that his "mission [at CSKA] is complete" as he edges for a move to AC Milan. Milan are reportedly interested in Honda as a replacement for Kevin Prince Boateng, who is believed to be leaving in the summer. Honda's contract expires on January 1st, meaning that Milan may get him at a cut price, although long-time admirers Liverpool are believed to be preparing an offer as well.

50/50:
Zenit winger Hulk has continued to be linked with a move away from the St. Petersburg club. Despite having troubles with management and teammates, the Brazilian has stated that he is happy in St. Petersburg, although English Premier League teams Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur are linked with a €40 million move.

Kuban forward Ivelin Popov has claimed that English Premier League club Aston Villa are "seriously interested" in him. Popov has scored 9 goals in 23 league appearances for Kuban since joining last August.

Gokhan Tore appears to be edging closer to a move away from Rubin. The Turkish winger has only spent one season in Russia, but Turkcell Super Lig team Besiktas has offered €1.75 million for the 21-year-old, although the Kazan-based side are holding out for his €5 million release clause.

Low Chance:
Reading striker Pavel Pogrebnyak has claimed that he would "consider top clubs in Russia", although his preference is to stay in England. The Russian international has been linked with Zenit and Kuban in recent months.

Anzhi's efforts to sign French defender Kurt Zouma appear to have failed as he nears a contract extension at St. Etienne. Zouma was thought to be one of two major talents to be leaving this summer, alongside Pierre Emerick Aubameyang, with clubs such as Manchester United and Barcelona interested, however it appears that he will stay for at least one further season.