Orenburg Signs Shinnik's Midfielder Ruslan Kul, Childhood Idol Arshavin
Ruslan Kul moved from FC Shinnik to FC Orenburg.
Orenburg has officially announced another transfer acquisition. The new player for the «Gazoviks,» as announced by 56.RU, is 25-year-old Shinnik winger Ruslan Kul.
Kul played in the UEFA Youth League during his time at Lokomotiv.
According to insider Sergei Ilyev, Orenburg wanted to take him on trial at their Turkish training camp but, after being refused by the Yaroslavl team, activated a buyout option amounting to just 3 million rubles (about $33,000 at current rates). Half of that fee must go to FC Rodina, as Kul moved to Shinnik from there as a free agent.
A chart shows Ruslan Kul«s previous clubs and transfer history.
Ruslan Kul (born February 22, 2000) took his first steps in football in St. Petersburg and named Andrey Arshavin as his childhood idol, but began his professional career in 2017 at Moscow«s Lokomotiv. His natural position is right attacking midfielder, but he can also play on the left and as a forward at the tip of the attack (he was even compared to Artem Dzyuba at Lokomotiv)—his height of 187 cm (6 feet 2 inches) and good sharpness and speed allow for this flexibility.
The transfer of Ruslan Kul to Orenburg was officially announced.
Kul has not yet played at the Russian Premier League (RPL) level: aside from Lokomotiv«s youth and reserve teams, he has played for Tula»s Arsenal-2, FC Novomoskovsk, Saratov«s Sokol, the aforementioned Rodina and Shinnik, as well as FC KAMAZ. The player»s abilities are well known to Orenburg coach Ildar Akhmetzyanov.
Alexander Ektov also moved to Orenburg from Shinnik in a previous transfer.
According to Transfermarkt, Kul«s current market value is 400 thousand euros. At the Youth Football League level, he recorded 6 goals and 4 assists in 50 matches (including a goal in the UEFA Youth League). In Russia»s Second League, he had 13 goals and 6 assists in 58 matches (plus 16 yellow cards and one red). In the First National League (FNL) and Russian Cup, he has 11 matches, 8 goals, and 5 assists (plus 15 yellow cards and one red). This season, Kul has 24 games, 4 goals, and 2 assists.
Orenburg presented new signing Ruslan Kul in their official club channels.
It is worth noting that Orenburg previously bought a player from Shinnik who quickly became a team leader. That player is right-back Alexander Ektov of Pari Nizhny Novgorod, who is missing the season due to a serious injury. Orenburg paid Shinnik only 25 thousand euros for him and sold him to Krasnodar for 800 thousand three seasons later. What«s stopping Ruslan Kul from repeating this »maneuver«?
As for Orenburg«s other transfers, there is currently a lull in new arrivals (aside from the failed trial of Renat Golypin from KAMAZ): as reported by 56.RU, the team has been joined by Alexis Cantero, John Palacios, and Damian Puebla (plus players on trial: Evgeny Zamerets from KAMAZ and Tigran Avanesyan from the same Tula Arsenal; Roman Eremenko did not make it to Turkey).
Departures include Georgy Zotov, Anri Chichinadze, Atsamaz Revazov, Ivan Ignatyev, Vladislav Kamilov, Timofey Martynov, Vladislav Davydov, Vyacheslav Korobov, Danila Antsiperov (the last three from the reserve team), plus those training with the second team who coach Ildar Akhmetzyanov does not count on—Nikolai Sysuyev, Nikolai Koserik, and Stepan Oganesyan.
