Komlichenko scores against Zenit, Gagnidze finds himself in Ural: performance review of Dynamo loanees

Nikolay Komlichenko (FC Rostov) – 19 matches (13 fixtures as a starter), 4 goals, 2 assists

The 26-year-old centre-forward has scored 8 goals in 38 games for Dynamo in a season and a half, but in June he went to Valery Karpin’s side in Rostov-on-Don. In the RPL first round, Nikolay played a full match against the parent club, but did not cause any big trouble for the White-Blues' defense. Soon Karpin took charge of the Russian national team. In less than 5 months, Rostov were coached by Yury Syomin, Zaur Tedeyev and Vitaly Kafanov. And all these managers trusted Komlichenko.

As a result, Nikolay came on the pitch in all RPL 18 rounds. He is the second team scorer with 4 goals. Moreover, he scored two of them against Zenit, and his goal at Gazprom Arena, St. Petersburg became a real beauty. Komlichenko shouldered Rakitskiy off and smashed a volley over the goalkeeper from 25 yards out. Nikolay is seventh in the Premier League due to successful tackles in attack (104).

— To be honest, I consider my performance in 2021 unsatisfactory, — Komlichenko told in an interview to the Match TV broadcaster. — Of course, there were positive moments, but in general neither the result nor my statistics were on the decent level. When I was at Dynamo, I felt myself very good. But then I was injured and had to get my conditioning back. Having moved to Rostov, I was also in good shape. In 2021, there were no problems with my health. The only thing that disappointed me was the finishing.

Luka Gagnidze (FC Ural) – 13 matches (6 fixtures as a starter)

In July, the 18-year-old central midfielder signed a five-year contract with Dynamo and soon went on a one-year loan to Ural Yekaterinburg. In August, Luka missed the matches against Spartak and Dynamo due to illness. He got his wind back and began to receive more playing time only at the end of October.

It was at the end of the calendar year that the Uralians had a six-match unbeaten streak, conceding only three goals. This performance helped the team climb from the bottom of the table to the 11th spot. Gagnidze started four of these matches, and established himself as a smart midfielder with good dribbling and 84% pass accuracy.

— Gagnidze improved his play in front of my eyes, — Ural winger Ramazan Gadzhimuradov said. — Arsen (Adamov) and I communicate well with Luka. I told him many times: run, run. He is very creative and tackles the balls. A good future awaits him – he will calmly find himself at Dynamo.

At the same time, Luka was constantly absent playing for the Georgian national team. As a captain, he helped Georgia U-19 reach the elite round of the European Championship qualification, and in November Gagnidze made his debut for the U-21 national team, taking part as a starter in a 3-2 win over England.

Vladislav Karapuzov (Akhmat) – 20 matches (8 fixtures as a starter), 1 goal, 3 assists

The winger played the second part of the previous season on loan at Tambov, and since the summer 2021, he moved to Grozny. Vladislav was well integrated into Andrey Talalayev’s formation and became the only Akhmat football player who took part in all 18 matches of the Premier League. Although more often he started games on the bench.

By a twist of fate, the young winger played his best match home against the parent club. Coming on as a substitute in the 29th minute, Karapuzov first earned a free kick that was brilliantly taken by Daniil Utkin, and then scored his opener in the RPL. As a result, Vladislav was named the best player of the encounter.

Igor Shkolik (Rotor) – 23 matches (15 fixtures as a starter), 4 goals

The 20-year-old central midfielder established himself at the Volgograd side, where he was invited by Dmitry Khokhlov, who knew his abilities well. Igor missed only two games in the first part of the season and takes the third place in the team's top scorers’ list with 4 goals.

It is worth of remark that Shkolik scored exceptionally nicely: look at his magnificent strike against Baltika, a well performed solo run in the match against Neftekhimik, and a cool volley against KAMAZ. Shkolik deservedly became third following the fans' voting, who chose the best players of the first part of the season. Now a new challenge is on the table – the talented youngster has to meet the ideas of the new head coach Artyom Kulikov, who replaced Khokhlov in November.

Sergey Slepov (Rotor) – 6 matches (2 fixtures as a starter), 1 assist

The right-back, who made his debut for Dynamo last season, also joined Rotor, but did not have time to establish himself. The 22-year-old footballer played only 6 matches and in September he got a shoulder injury that left him without football until the end of the calendar year.

Ilya Gomanyuk (Volgar) – 3 matches (2 fixtures as a starter)

A similar situation happened to the former Dynamo-2 captain, who was initially considered a Volgar starter. The 21-year-old attacking midfielder took part in three encounters just at the beginning, but then he needed to undergo surgery. After the medical intervention Gomanyuk did not appear on the pitch until the end of the year.

Maksim Danilin (Neftekhimik) – 4 matches

The 20-year-old centre-forward made his debut for Dynamo in the RPL in July 2020. Last summer, Danilin reunited with Kirill Novikov at the Tatar side, but could not avoid injury. Maksim missed the beginning of the season, recovered only by the end of September and has come as a substitute four times so far.

We will continue following the performance of our loanees and will tell you about their success.