The context was heavy, the situation almost untenable. In PSG, the cohabitation between the Russian Matveï Safonov and the Ukrainian Illya Zabarnyi promised to be a real headache. The Russian goalkeeper made his decision.
He could have heard. Stay, impose itself, and prove that sport can transcend geopolitics. After winning a historic hat-trick with Paris Saint-Germain, Matveï Safonov had every reason to want to continue his adventure in the capital. But football is sometimes caught up in a more complex reality.
The arrival of the Ukrainian defender Illya Zabarnyi has created an unprecedented situation And symbolically very heavy in the Parisian wardrobe. The Russian goalkeeper ended up giving in.
Safonov ready to leave Paris to avoid the storm
Matveï Safonov threw in the towel. Not on the ground, but faced with a context that has become too heavy. According to information from several Russian media, including Football24.ru et Sleeping sportthe goalkeeper would now be open to a return to his native country. The Spartak Moscow and the Saint Petersburg Zenit are said to be on the ranks. He who, a few weeks ago, dismissed any initial idea, would have finally changed his mind. The external pressure, the difficulty of managing this cohabitation in the spotlight and the impossibility of dissociating the sportsman from the politician undoubtedly had his determination.
You can't blame him. As a Ukrainian football expert pointed out in The team,
It was almost “impossible for this cohabitation to last”. Each photo, each celebration, every moment of group life would have been scrutinized, interpreted, criticized. Safonov may have simply chosen tranquility for his career and for his life.
Safonov, symbol of a cloakroom that politics has divided
A departure that suits everyone?
This turnaround is an almost logical outcome to an inextricable situation. For PSG, it is one less thorn in the management of the locker room. For Zabarnyi, it is the assurance of evolving in a more serene environment. And for Safonov, it is the possibility of finding a context where it will only be judged on its sports performance. The club for its part, can also see its departure with the arrivals of Lucas Chevalier and the vagueness that surrounds Donnarumma.
He leaves his head high, with a well -stocked record in the Paris jersey. His passage will remain like that of a talented goalkeeper caught in the torments of history. We can regret that sport has failed to prevail, but we can only respect the decision of a man who simply chose to no longer be the symbol of a conflict that goes beyond it.
