Before the championship ended, the candidate for the loudest transfer of the summer. Krasnodar goalkeeper Matvey Safonov is one step away from moving to the French PSG for 20 million euros – until recently, all that was left was to sign. But now the football player’s ex-wife, with whom he has been suing for alimony for a long time, has intervened in the story. Will the transfer, which everyone has been discussing for the last couple of weeks, fall through due to the goalkeeper's problems on the personal front?
The transfer seemed unrealistic. The first insights about the Parisians' interest in Safonov were received with skepticism by the public. Of course, the captain of Krasnodar is one of the brightest players in the Russian championship. But it was not easy to believe that a European grandee would want to pay a decent amount for it in these difficult times. Moreover, the PSG goal is quite successfully defended by the Italian Gianluigi Donnarumma, and Matvey, at least initially, would have been destined for the role of number two.
However, just a week later, what seemed like a “duck” rumor turned into an almost settled matter. Insiders reported details of the transfer every day – the cost of the transfer, the date of the medical examination, the duration of the contract. And at the current training camp of the national team, officials also began to let things slip. First, Vitaly Kafanov shared his opinion about the transition, and then Valery Karpin admitted that Safonov was one step away from the transition, which he himself told him about. There was literally just a little bit left – to get to Paris and sign the documents.
But amid the discussion of a potential transfer, many forgot about Safonov’s problems on the personal front. In the fall of 2021, it became known that Matvey separated from his wife, Anastasia, after seven years of relationship. Perhaps the separation would have passed quietly, but at the center of the story was the couple’s daughter, for whom a real struggle unfolded. Actually, because of this, Anastasia later decided to make everything public.
“Matvey Safonov initiated legal disputes with me about the dissolution of the marriage and the division of the car that he gave me for Maya’s birth. Well, this is his right, and the law does not oblige him to be a worthy person. However, taking a two-year-old daughter from his mother… This is already crossing all boundaries . I can no longer afford to remain silent, since this concerns not only me. Apparently, our great football player was blown away by the money and permissiveness that his handlers provided him, and now he is driven by an overly inflated ego during my pregnancy and after! during childbirth, he allowed himself to communicate with ladies with low social responsibility and did not even come to pick up his daughter from the maternity hospital, as he was having fun with these girls,” said the football player’s ex-wife.
The story with his ex-wife In addition to the fact that Safonov, according to Anastasia, wanted to take his daughter for himself, he also demanded alimony in the amount of 13 thousand rubles. The goalkeeper himself never publicly commented on the situation, but his relatives gave their assessment of what was happening. In particular, the football player’s new girlfriend, Marina Kondratyuk, who regularly worked as a flight attendant on Krasnodar flights, where they met, spoke out. Naturally, she stood up for her lover and accused Anastasia of not allowing Safonov to see his daughter.
“It’s a pity that no one tells you about the property that he gave to his daughter when she was not yet a year old, about the renovation in this apartment for 8 million, which was never completed for unknown reasons, about the alimony that he pays monthly for a year and a half, about attempts to see the child, which are ignored. About the fact that a person comes to the bailiffs and says that Matvey does not pay anything in order to receive child support twice. He asks to be prohibited from leaving the Russian Federation before the national team games. “He wants to be allowed to communicate with his daughter. That’s all the person is fighting for. So that Nastya is obliged not to interfere with communication. In 2 months, the person was refused 12 times,” Kondratyuk wrote on social networks.
Nevertheless, the child remained with the mother, and last winter the story took a new turn. It became known that Safonov lost in court over alimony and is now forced to give his ex-wife a quarter of his income. According to media reports, the goalkeeper's monthly salary is almost 12.5 million rubles, so a little more than 3 million should have gone to raising his daughter.
Several months have passed since then, but Safonov has not transferred the required money. And now, when the transfer to PSG is in full swing, the bailiffs took the footballer seriously. On Friday, Anastasia’s lawyer said that the goalkeeper is now subject to a restrictive measure in the form of a ban on traveling outside Russia due to arrears of alimony. According to the source, the total amount of debt is 60 million rubles. The lawyer did not confirm this figure, but said that in the newly created register of debtors, the Krasnodar goalkeeper would have taken first place.
To anticipate this step, Safonov himself filed a statement with the police that Anastasia allegedly stole 800 thousand rubles from his personal bank card. Moreover, the incident occurred when the couple was still married. The girl claims that the football player himself transferred the money to her and it was intended for renovations in the apartment he gave to his daughter. Representatives of law enforcement agencies came to Anastasia’s parents regarding the complaint, but no criminal case has been initiated yet.
“In our opinion, such accusations are completely absurd. Property acquired during a marriage is considered common and, by definition, cannot be stolen by one spouse from the other. Anastasia and her relatives consider this an attempt by Matvey Evgenievich to put pressure on her in order to avoid paying alimony. Now, As far as I know, a criminal case has not been initiated, an investigation is underway. It is difficult to say how long it will take, according to the law, about a month,” said Anastasia’s lawyer Maxim Shilov.
Pay the money and the case is closed? All this fuss overtook Safonov in Minsk, where he came with the Russian national team for a friendly match with Belarus. Apparently, it was initially planned that after the training camp the goalkeeper would calmly continue to settle the final nuances before leaving for Paris, but now it will have to be postponed. Either you have to leave for France immediately from Minsk, or return to Russia, and at the same time risk not leaving the country in the near future.
“”I would like to focus on the fact that Anastasia and her family are very happy with how Matvey Evgenievich’s career is developing. In the interests of the child, he should develop not only as an athlete, but also as a person. As for his move to France, then if everything the debts will be repaid, nothing will interfere with the transition. The decision on alimony will remain in the event of a transfer to PSG, although it is clear that it will be more difficult to achieve compliance in France. But this does not mean that we will not do this,” he concluded. Shilov.
It is curious how this news was received in Paris, where Safonov is expected any day now. Although it is unlikely that the leadership of the French grandee is shocked, because this is not the first time they have encountered difficult family situations among football players. You can remember Mauro Icardi’s ex-wife, Wanda Nara, who did not let the PSG bosses relax. And for many other players, things are not always going smoothly at home.
It seems that the situation will still be resolved in favor of the transfer. Apparently, Safonov is principled in the matter of litigation with his ex-wife, but it would be strange to risk such a leap in his career. Whoever is right in their situation, if the deal of the year in Russian football falls through because of alimony, it will be a real shame.
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