In the Batrakov case, it has often been difficult to disentangle fact from fiction. Announced in the sights of Paris Saint-Germain, Russian midfielder Aleksey Batrakov (20 years old) had the profile of players currently sought by the capital club, namely young talents available at a reasonable price. In addition, with the arrival of Matvey Safonov at the Rouge et Bleu in 2024, seeing PSG recruit in Russia no longer seems crazy. However, the information circulating around this issue has sometimes been contradictory.
On June 1, one of the player’s agents, Dmitry Cheltsov, assured that the deal was almost complete. “There is a 95% chance that Batrakov will join PSG. The leaders of PSG and Lokomotiv have already had more than ten telephone conversations. Next week, Campos will travel to Moscow to try to close the deal. There is a good chance that this will come to fruition. It would take a case of force majeure to prevent this transaction. The transfer will cost 25 million euros, and Batrakov’s salary will amount to 5-6 million euros (annual). » An announcement which followed the buzz generated by the photo of Batrakov taken with a t-shirt bearing the image of PSG.
“PSG is more interesting. I don’t like Arsenal’s style.”
Three days later, The Parisian cast a chill on the affair by affirming that the Batrakov trail was well studied, but that PSG had decided not to follow it up. Info or fake? For the first time, the main person concerned broke the silence in an interview given to the Russian media Sport24.ru. The opportunity for him to affirm that he supported PSG during the last Champions League final against Arsenal. “PSG. Especially thanks to Safonov. PSG is more interesting. I don’t like Arsenal’s style: they played very defensive football all season. The match scenario therefore made sense after Havertz’s quick goal. But it certainly wasn’t boring.”he declared, before paying tribute to Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
“Khvicha’s journey speaks for itself: everyone has a chance. If you arrive in Europe, everything is in your hands. Khvicha is excellent, he shows exceptional quality.” Does Batrakov dream of following in the footsteps of players from the East who have managed to establish themselves in Europe? No doubt. In the meantime, Batrakov returned to the famous photo of the PSG t-shirt and the rumor of a departure for France. “It was a joke. Lately, there has been too much talk about me and a possible transfer. I try to ignore it. Especially when people criticize me and say that I don’t deserve it. If anything happens between the clubs, the agents inform me. But for the moment, being in the selection, I asked not to say anything”he confided. To be continued. Or not.
