The one belonging to Pārdaugava club Sergey Vilkov: “My status in the RFS? In January, there were talks with the club that I could stay in the team as the second or third goalkeeper. I didn’t want it myself, because I understand that I am 20 years old and to sit and wait for the possibility that I can play five games in a season… We all understand that Pavel Šteinbor is a high-level professional and it is very difficult to compete with him for a place in the goal. I wanted to play myself. “Tukuma” was waiting for me and there were options both abroad and other teams in Latvia. I decided that I already know “Tukuma” , I know the coach and I know his requirements. It didn’t make sense for me to change the team. At the training camp in Turkey, I talked with Mari Verpakovski and RFS goalkeeper coach Anton Savchenko. I’m happy that I was returned to play on loan in Tukuma this season.”
In addition to the two experienced goaltenders Pavel Šteinbor and Yevgenii Nerugal, RFS brought in Frank Orola and Jani Beka to their goaltending line in the offseason. Vilkov said about the upcoming big competition for a place in the goal: “I don’t want to judge about next year yet. I see what is happening with the goalkeepers in RFS. My job is to play well in Tukuma this season. I believe that if I am one of the team’s leaders, as I it should be, then I am sure that next season I will have the opportunity to be the main goalkeeper in RFS. There will always be competition. We can look at “Audu”, which had Fabrice Ondoa on the bench in the first round, who was the best legionnaire and the best goalkeeper in the Premier League last season.”
“I heard from the agents that there are options abroad. However, RFS did not want to part with me, because there was an option for rent with redemption options. It was not interesting for RFS, because they wanted either a certain amount or for me to stay in Latvia, which would allow them to be close to follow my progress. One of the options was a team from the Romanian Premier League. In the end, I didn’t go until a specific offer,” the 20-year-old goalkeeper outlined about the interest from abroad.
The RFS team has given several footballers on loan this season. One of the non-standard cases is with Gleb Žaleiko, who will continue his studies in Riga and will train with RFS, but will go to the games to represent “Daugavpils”. The goalkeeper of Tukumnieku Vilkov would not like this situation in his own context: “My opinion is that it is not right. You have to be with the team all the time and be with the head coach. You have to live where you play. I would not like such an option that everyday would train with RFS, but would go to “Tukum” only for pre-match trainings and matches. It’s very good that I was not offered anything like that. I could have chosen to live in Riga and go to Tukum every day, which is also not the best option, because too much time I have to spend on the road. I really like it here in Tukuma. The hotel provides a very good standard of living and food. Everything is provided so that we can play well and there are no surrounding factors that would interfere in any way.”
It is possible to listen to the full conversation with Sergejs VIlkovs, many times the best football journalist in Latvia, Edmundas Novickas Patreon in the account.
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