German Football / Jonathan Wilson / 06 August 2009 / Leave a comment

Jonathan Wilson tells us about the latest chapter in the colourful footballing life of Pavel Pogrebnyak, one of Russian football's forgotten men, who has just moved to Stuttgart.

"And, finally, he has his wish, this week joining Stuttgart for a
reported fee of £3million. As such, he represents a remarkable
bargain. Pogrebnyak is unlikely to score the 24 goals Mario Gomez contributed
last season before joining Bayern, but he will
offer other attributes."

2008 was a very good year for Russian football, and a very frustrating year for Pavel Pogrebnyak. As Zenit St Petersburg won the Uefa Cup, beating Rangers in the final in Manchester, he watched from the bench, suspended after collecting a yellow card in the semi-final for a seemingly accidental collision with Bastian Schweinsteiger.

He had been a key part of their progress to the final, scoring twice in the second leg of the semi-final victory over Bayern Munich, something that was recognised by the way his team-mates presented him with a signed golden shirt to commemorate the triumph, and then let him carry the trophy through the post-match mixed zone. As he commented then, "At least I have the Euros to look forward to."

And so he should have done, only for a knee injury to rule him out. As Russia reached the semi-final, Pogrebnyak was again looking on and thinking of what might have been. And so it was Andriy Arshavin ([22.0] to be Premier League top-scorer this season) and Roman Pavlyuchenko ([160.0] who got the glamorous moves to the Premier League, while he was left to look around a disintegrating Zenit side and wonder if things would
ever be so good again.

Perhaps the kindest way to describe what is going on at Zenit at the moment is transition. With an agreement for Anatoliy Tymoshchuk to join Bayern Munich already in place, it was hard to see Zenit challenging even for Champions League qualification this season - they lie sixth in the table at the moment, seven points behind the leaders
Rubin Kazan - which may have lent added urgency to Pogrebnyak's efforts to leave.

And, finally, he has his wish, this week joining Stuttgart for a reported fee of £3million. As such, he represents a remarkable bargain. Pogrebnyak is unlikely to score the 24 goals Mario Gomez ([6.2] favourite to be Bundesliga top goalscorer this season] contributed
last season before joining Bayern ([1.66] for the title), but he will offer other attributes. He emerged at Spartak Moscow just as Pavlyuchenko was signed from Rotor Volgograd and lived rather in his shadow, eventually being sold to Shinnik after a series of loan moves.

Once given regular football, though, Pogrebnyak blossomed. He may not be as mobile as Pavlyuchenko, but he is a far better taker of chances when they arrive for him - his second against Bayern in the second leg of that semi-final, stroked in on the half-volley from the edge of the box, was the product of quite breathtaking confidence and technical
ability - holds the ball up better, and is generally better in the air.

If he is used in what might be called - if it is not to damn with faint praise - the Emile Heskey role, battering at defences to create space for the more creative midfielders behind him, then this could be an outstandingly astute purchase by Stuttgart's sporting director, Horst Heldt, who had made inquiries about Klass-Jan Huntelaar, Vagner
Love and Milan Jovanovic.

Heldt's other move of the past few days has been to secure the return, on a year-long loan, on Alexander Hleb from Barcelona. The former Arsenal midfielder had attracted interest from Internazionale and Bayern Munich, but seems to have been swayed by the memories of the five happy seasons he spent at the club between 2000 and 2005. "We've brought Alex home," said Heldt. With the likes of Ciprian Marcia,
Cacau and Elson already in the squad, Stuttgart seem to have just the sort of technically accomplished attacking midfield to make the most of Pogrebynak's physicality.

The one worry is that their coach Markus Babbel, the 36-year-old former Liverpool player, is still studying for his badges, which will mean he spends less time working with his players than he would like on a day-to-day basis. Stuttgart showed their potential by ending last season with a run of eight wins in ten games, and while their squad
may preclude a title challenge - they are [17.5] to repeat their success of 2007 - a top 3 finish in the Bundesliga ([3.3]) is certainly not beyond them.