Matyukhin bound for Russia
Tuesday, December 3, 2002
Article summary
Ukraine defender Serhiy Matyukhin has left FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk for Russian side FC Dinamo Moskva.
Article body
Contract expired
The news of the 22-year-old's departure was confirmed by Dnipro general director Andriy Stetsenko. "We can say today that we have said goodbye to Matyukhin," he said. "He moves to Dinamo by his own free will, as his contract with Dnipro has expired."
Better deal offered
"We have a rule: you play for Dnipro only if you want to play for Dnipro," added Dnipro head coach Yevhen Kucherevskiy. "We were offering Matyukhin a better contract than the one he had, as he became a full international, but we could not pay him much more than to any other player in the team."
Academy product
Matyukhin is a product of Dnipro's football academy, and has scored six goals in 71 Ukrainian league games. Capped at all youth levels, he made his senior debut for Ukraine earlier this year.
Second in the table
Dnipro have gone into the winter break in Ukraine second in the table, two points ahead of FC Dynamo Kyiv and three points behind FC Shakhtar Donetsk, and in the semi-finals of the Ukrainian Cup. Dinamo finished the 2002 Russian Premier-Liga campaign in eighth.
