Lifebuoy. Shakhtar needed Konoplyanka more than Konoplyanka needed Shakhtar

Ukraine's champions, however, may also come out ahead.

On September 2, on the eve of the closing of the transfer window in Ukraine, Shakhtar announced the signing of Yevhen Konoplyanka. This was a bombshell for our market, since as recently as a day earlier no authoritative source had reported any negotiations or even concrete interest.

Why does Konoplyanka need Shakhtar?

It was known in principle that Konoplyanka would leave Schalke as early as the beginning of the year — at that time the Ukraine national team winger signed with the serious agent Fali Ramadani, and German media also began reporting that the Gelsenkirchen club was ready to part ways with him. In the summer, all of this was simply confirmed: Konoplyanka did not prepare with the team for the new season, and the club explained this by saying the player was looking for a new club.

On the European market, after an unsuccessful previous season, Konoplyanka's stock fell, so the options presumably considered included Italy, close to Ramadani (his clients include such Serie A stars as Miralem Pjanić, Kalidou Koulibaly and Nikola Kalinić), and Turkey, which is always ready to give a chance to players sidelined in top leagues so they can restore their reputation and earn well.

These options were worked on until the very end, but difficulties arose. Italy does not have many teams playing with clearly defined wingers that could at least roughly meet the financial demands of Konoplyanka's representatives, and Juventus, Roma and Napoli are out of the question at the moment.

At various stages it seemed that Konoplyanka would end up in Turkey. First local media spoke of Fenerbahçe, then — of Beşiktaş, but first one club and then the other closed the question of squad composition. The door to Beşiktaş closed for Konoplyanka at the very end of August (although it seemed like the ideal option), when the Black Eagles signed Georges-Kevin Nkoudou from Tottenham for the same position.

As it turned out, by early August, when championships were starting everywhere, Konoplyanka still remained without a club and, accordingly, without proper preparation. And this came right before the matches of the team where he has long been important and where there are corresponding hopes for him — in September and October Ukraine must play important qualifying matches for Euro 2020. The fact that before the match against Lithuania on September 7 he was released from the national team camp for a friendly match of Shakhtar against Kolos should not come as a surprise: he urgently needs match practice now, even if it is only a half with a UPL team.

One of the stumbling blocks for Konoplyanka's transfer to Turkey, too, was the financial question. With a salary of 4 million euros a year, the Ukrainian was the highest-paid player on the team, and now, on the eve of his 30th birthday, he badly needed a good contract that could potentially be his last major one in his career. The option with Dynamo (if such an option existed, of course) was ruled out primarily for this reason — in Kyiv, not even approximately such money is paid now.

We should not rule out that the Champions League, in which Shakhtar now plays regularly, was also a significant argument for him. Neither Fenerbahçe, nor Beşiktaş, nor Sampdoria, information about which also circulated in the media at the end of August, nor the same Dynamo could offer a luxury of at least 6 matches in the main European tournament.

And, ultimately, the most important thing: the times when Liverpool came calling are far behind — Zhenya surely understood this himself.

Why does Shakhtar need Konoplyanka?

For the sake of signing Konoplyanka, Shakhtar departed from the unspoken principle of the last decade, which holds that Ukrainians play at the back and Brazilians play up front. There are exceptions, of course (who was the last non-naturalized Ukrainian? Hladkyi?), but the essence under foreign-player limit conditions was clear to everyone.

By signing Konoplyanka, Shakhtar gets a player with a Ukrainian passport, which matters greatly under foreign-player limits, and a player whose talent has not gone anywhere — he is quite capable of performing at a decent level for at least 2-3 years.

The hour is not far off when Taison will eventually leave — his protest on social media after the collapse of talks with Milan makes clear that he does not intend to stay at Shakhtar for long. And it should not be ruled out that the 31-year-old Brazilian will not wait for next summer.

In the case of Shakhtar, something else is somewhat troubling: what the signing of Konoplyanka means for the future of Manor Solomon — a young player who, it would seem, was brought in precisely to replace Taison in the starting lineup after his departure.

Competition — this is good, but maintaining a good atmosphere with many players dissatisfied by the lack of stable match practice will not be easy.

What to expect?

While Taison remains in the team, he will probably be used more often closer to the central zone, leaving the left flank to Konoplyanka or Solomon.  And the favorite for a starting spot in the first Champions League matches is by no means the Ukrainian — he has to get used to a new team and new demands, and his physical condition is in doubt given that he missed the entire pre-season. What comes next depends on how each of them performs.