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French champions Paris Saint-Germain announced on Friday that they have signed Russian goalkeeper Matvey Safonov from Krasnodar on a five-year contract.
More than two years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine led to sanctions on Russian athletes and a ban on Russian teams from European football, now a top Russian club has signed a Russian player.
“I am very happy to join Paris Saint-Germain, one of the biggest clubs in the world in terms of history and honours,” said the 25-year-old Safonov.
“I can’t wait to meet my new teammates, defend my new jersey and make the fans proud. Come on Paris!”
PSG praised the qualities of the former Krasnodar captain in a statement on the club’s website.
The Paris-based club said Safonov was “renowned for his leadership qualities” and had played “an important role in Krasnodar’s outstanding performance, which ended in second place in the league, just one point behind (champions) Zenit St Petersburg”.
Safonov has been the captain of FC Krasnodar since 2020, after graduating from the club’s academy. He has 175 appearances for the southern Russian side.
The goalkeeper has made 14 appearances for Russia since his debut in June 2021. He played in two group matches for the national team at Euro 2020 – which was held in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
With the arrival of Safonov, Paris Saint-Germain has four goalkeepers, including Italy’s number one goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Italy coach Luciano Spalletti, who prepares to begin their European Championship title defence against Albania on Saturday, said he would “find a better team than Paris Saint-Germain” if Donnarumma’s starting spot was threatened by Safonov.
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