"You just have to win, that's all"

One of the main events of the past summer in Russian football was the drastic changes in the composition of the Moscow "Locomotive". The team that won the bronze medals at the Russian championship in the spring lost three key players: striker Dmitry Vorobyov left for Krasnodar before the start of this season, attacking midfielder Alexei Batrakov went to Galatasaray in Turkey last week, and central midfielder Artem Karpukas was sold to Zenit St. Petersburg.

Loko earned about 40 million euros from these transfers. But so far he has acquired only the midfielder of Samara "Wings of the Soviets" Sergey Babkin, who joined the team on the eve of the previous match with CSKA Moscow (2:3). The upcoming August 28 game of the sixth round of the championship against Dynamo Moscow will be the first for the 23-year-old football player after a full-week cycle with a new club. In an interview with Izvestia, he spoke about the transition to Loko, assessed the changes in the team he left in 2022, and also assured that even after personnel losses, the railwaymen have the potential to rise to the top of the RPL table from the current 14th place.

— How would you rate your first match with Lokomotiv?

— From the point of view of the team result, of course, it is negative. In such a derby, you always want to achieve victory. In this regard, I do not separate my game from the team, so I evaluate myself negatively, since we lost.

— How much time did you have to practice before the match with CSKA?

— I had one pregame training session.

— Is there a crisis at Lokomotiv after the departure of Alexey Batrakov and Artyom Karpukas?

"I don't think so. We have a good potential to move up in the table. Even taking into account the departure of such, of course, strong players.

— Does the current position not correspond to the level of the team?

- of course. 100%.

— What can you claim with this squad?

— In my opinion, Lokomotiv has been fighting for high places for many years, and it should be fighting now. A club with such traditions needs to be at the top.

— Don't you think that this season you can forget about fighting in the championship for something serious?

—No, not really. It hasn't been long since the start of the season. And everything can be fixed.

— Don't you think that after leaving Krylia, you basically just changed one team to another, roughly equal in level? After all, Samara and Loko are now next to each other in the table.

— No, I definitely don't think so. Lokomotiv is a top club that must compete for the highest places. And our team has everything for that.

— How has Lokomotiv changed during the four years of your absence?

— In terms of conditions, it has only gotten better. The base, the possibilities for recovery — all this is there, and at a high level. There is everything to win. In terms of people… The staff from my last visit to Lokomotiv remained almost in full strength. However, those players are no longer in the team.

— When did you first learn about Lokomotiv's interest in you?

— I don't know when the club started talking about this topic with my agent. But I found out just a few days before the transition. We quickly agreed, and I moved on. It was my last game for Krylia Sovetov, in the Cup against Zenit. After that, I just got on the bus — a call from an agent. And I heard from him that we had reached an agreement with Lokomotiv. Naturally, I knew about the interest before that, but I was informed about the final decision only after the match.

— The last time you played for Loko, you managed to play a few matches in the base. You found the team in the German period, which ended in approximately the same position where the club is today. Can you compare the atmosphere then and now?

— It would seem that the situation in the table is similar. But inside, everything is different. At least we will do our best to change that. I repeat: I think we have a very good team capable of rising higher. There are no indifferent people — everyone is determined to get out of the current situation.

— What do you need to add to this?

— You just have to win, that's all. No need to look at the standings — you just need to tune in to each match as the last one. We are in a place where we shouldn't be.