Semak confirmed that Zenit is negotiating the transfer of Mario Fernandez

“Zenith” from St. Petersburg is negotiating with representatives of the ex-football player of CSKA Moscow and the Russian national team Mario Fernandez. This was stated by the head coach of the St. Petersburg team Sergei Semak at a press conference.

According to Semak, the club entered into negotiations on the transfer of 32-year-old Fernandez after CSKA Moscow did not qualify for the defender.

“I can say that Zenit behaves correctly in this situation, we made contact with Mario’s representatives after the agent said that CSKA had lost the priority right to negotiate”– said the head coach of “Zenith”.

Previously, the transition of Mario Fernandez to Zenit was reported by Sport-Express. It is noted that the player will move to the club from St. Petersburg from the Brazilian “Internacional” in the status of a free agent. This will happen after the “Zenith” will buy the contract of Fernandez from the team from Brazil for 360,000 euros. At the same time, CSKA Moscow also planned to return the defender, but did not buy the player from Internacional.

It is expected that Mario Fernandez will soon undergo a medical before signing an agreement with the St. Petersburg team. It is assumed that under the contract he will earn at least 2 million euros in one season. In this case, the agreement itself between the defender and “Zenith” can be signed for two years, three years, or under the scheme “two years plus a one-year extension”.

Mario Fernandez played for CSKA from June 2012 to June 2022. After that, he suspended his career. For the “red-blue” defender spent 329 meetings, scored 11 goals and made 47 assists. Together with CSKA, Mario Fernandez won the Russian Championship three times, the Russian Cup once, and the Russian Super Cup twice.

In 2016, the player received a passport of a Russian citizen, and a year later he played the first match for the Russian national team. In 2018, Mario Fernandez, together with the national team, reached the 1/4 finals of the World Championship, which was held in Russia.

In January of this year, the player resumed his playing career and signed a contract with Internacional. He played for the Brazilian club in five meetings and was not marked by effective actions.