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When the Champions League draw was made, everyone had firmly placed their bets on the group of ‘death’ as the most entertaining one. Little did anyone realize that Group E’s outcome would be decided only at the final whistle of the last and decisive game.
Only Chelsea fans, like me, realized that this could actually turn out much more tougher than it looked like on paper. The European Champions had to face the Italia Champions, the Ukrainian Champions and the Danish Champions.
Shakhtar Donetsk had already qualified before the last game as Chelsea had to win and desperately needed Juventus to lose. Shakhtar lost to an offside own goal against Juventus as Chelsea’s 6-0 thrashing of Nordsjaelland ended in disappointment.
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Shakhtar forced opposition goalkeepers into picking the ball out of their nets 70 times and had their own keeper picking it out only 24 times last season. Domestically, the Ukranian Champions have been on the rise since a long time, but their emergence as one of Europe’s elite was a slow and steady process.
Rinat Akhmetov is the world’s 26th richest man, as listed by Forbes. He also owns the most expensive apartment in the world and is the President of Shakhtar Donetsk
We have our Russian Oligarchs, Arabian Sheikhs and American Tycoons ready to splurge the money to see their team emerge victorious. But do they love their club as a fan does, or is it all just a side-show, entertainment outlet for them? Rinat Akhmetov on the other hand loves Shakhtar Donetsk and is not just someone who’s playing around with the extra money he has to show-off in front off his other friends at a game of golf. As a kid, he was an avid fan and when the opportunity of taking over the club came in October 1995, he did not hesitate. The previous president was killed in a bombing assassination at the Donbass Arena. A glitch in the traffic signal ensured that Akhmetov could not reach the Donbass Arena to meet his fate as well. Since then, the son of a local coal miner has invested heavily in the club.
His arrival to the club sparked a change. The club’s youth academy might not have been the best but money could buy a decent scouting network, and if you were to add a few more extra bucks, you could set up a very extensive scouting base. Thus began the Ukranian’s relationship with the Brazilians. Players were brought in from time to time, or as Akhmetov called them, “raw talent”. He proceeded to polish them at the club and then sell them to top European clubs for high fees. To capture them in the first place, he offered them high wages and bonuses that they would not get anywhere else.
Their first Brazilian signing took place in 2002 and moved to Marseille in 2008 after being well polished by Mircea Lucescu. A more famous Brazilian, Elano, moved to City and 17 million euros was procured from Real Zaragoza over the sale of Matuzalém. Ilsinho as well played for Shakhtar before moving to the better parts of Europe.
Willian has been linked to a number of Premier League clubs for millions of pounds
Top clubs like to experiment with Brazil but not splash out a lot of money unless the player in question can play in Europe. This helps them avoid a flop buy as Brazilian players are more likely to suffer from home-sickness. There are 8 Brazilians in the squad at the moment along with one naturalized player. Bringing in Samba boys would help them get used to the European style of play with their own kind.
The fact stands though, that if you are a Brazilian and play for Shakhtar, then you are eyeing a bigger move elsewhere. Shakhtar’s involvement in Europe and their brilliant results inflate the transfer fees of these South American players. This in turn benefits the club, who rake profits in millions as well.
This might change though as some Brazilians tend to stay longer at the club then they usually did. If Shakhtar are to play good football and win trophies in Europe, South American players will have little reason to leave.
However, it’s still hard to believe that something like that could actually reap so much. Little do some know that some people have even gone the extra mile to keep the plan intact. Coach Mircea Lucescu went on to learn Portugese just to give the team-talk more efficiently This might have gone down well with the Brazilians but the Ukranian players were frustrated. Lucescu however was having none of that and refused to apologize or change his ways. “They are special” is all he could say.
The Brazilian imports have changed the way Ukranians now view the area surrounding the Donbass Arena. Brazilians have even gone on to bring their families and set up small Brazilian colonies.
Business models in football clubs usually revolve around spending truckloads of money, getting success and injecting more money to cover losses.
Some clubs though, bought players, made profits, bought more players and made even more profits. This however ensured that few clubs did not have any luck in getting a shot at the title. Arsenal are a prime example. Porto however have sold players who have gone on to become famous. Shakhtar are on the track of doing just that.
This isn’t the first time that certain nationalities have dominated certain clubs. The Dutch contingent was strong at Barcelona and the French found it easy at Arsenal. Could the Brazilians have a higher impact in Ukraine?
