Lokomotiv lure Sytchev to Moscow
Wednesday, January 28, 2004
Article summary
FC Lokomotiv Moskva have completed a transfer coup by signing Dmitri Sytchev from Olympique de Marseille.
Article body
Four-year deal
The 20-year-old former FC Spartak Moskva prodigy has signed a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee, thought to be between €3m and €4m. Lokomotiv president Valeri Filatov confirmed the deal, revealing that negotiations had been under way since November. Sytchev will be joined at Lokomotiv by the 21-year-old Mozambique defender Chapanga Campira Samuel, who has also agreed a four-year contract after leaving Textil Pungue.
World Cup record
Sytchev burst on to the scene at Spartak, with eight goals in his first 12 games in the 2002 season. At 18 years and 222 days he became the youngest Russian to appear in a FIFA World Cup that year, scoring one and setting up his side's three other goals in Korea/Japan. A move to Marseille followed, but he failed to set Ligue 1 alight.
Monaco meeting
Sytchev's agent, Pavel Andreev, said of the player: "It is important that Sytchev plays - and plays as a striker. He was often used as a right midfielder at Marseille but he will return to his rightful place at Lokomotiv." Having represented the French club in the UEFA Champions League, Sytchev is ineligible for Lokomotiv's knockout meeting with AS Monaco FC.
