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CSKA Moscow admit to desperately missing Seydou Doumbia

8 years ago
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The arrival and impact of Seydou Doumbia at Newcastle United has been underwhelming to say the least.

Doumbia has only made three brief substitute appearances totalling 29 minutes for Newcastle and Rafa Benitez hasn’t even included him in he matchday squad for either Sunderland or Norwich.

The forward looking like Newcastle’s most disastrous loan signing since…the last one – Facundo Ferreyra, who managed zero first team minutes over the course of all last season.

Away on international duty in March, the striker walked out on the squad amid claims of players having undue influence on the selection of the Head Coach.

However, one place where he is still held in high regard is in Moscow, CSKA Moscow to be exact.

The striker scored 83 goals in 112 starts (plus sub appearances) for CSKA Moscow from June 2010 to January 2015 and then after a £10m move to AS Roma didn’t work out, he spent the first half of this season back at CSKA Moscow on loan, scoring a further 11 goals in 17 starts (plus 4 sub appearances).

Doumbia left CSKA Moscow top of the Russian league when their winter break started in December – but things are falling apart now without him after the return to action.

CSKA have lost two of their four matches after the second half of the league season kicked off and are really struggling up front, scoring only three goals in four matches.

Title rivals Rostov have now gone top after beating CSKA 2-0 and then Doumbia’s former team losing to Zenit St. Petersburg by the same score, unable to threaten the opposition goal.

That defeat to Zenit St. Petersburg on Sunday has left CSKA head coach Leonid Slutsky in reflective mood and wondering where the goals are going to come from, with no natural goalscorer available to replace the departed Seydou Doumbia.

CSKA’s main hope for goals now is Nigerian striker Ahmed Musa who has scored 14 goals in 34 starts for the Russian club this season, some way behind Doumbia’s threat and strike rate.

After the Zenit defeat, Leonid Slutsky said:

“We obviously now lack a skilled finisher, a man with a killer instinct in the attack.

“The match in St. Petersburg, where we failed to level after Zenit opened the score, clearly shows that.”

Ironic that CSKA Moscow are desperate for goals and would love to have Seydou Doumbia back playing there, whilst Newcastle United are desperate for goals and Doumbia can’t even get in the squad and has had only 29 minutes of football in three months at St James Park…there’s something wrong somewhere.

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