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Done dealUpdated 07:39 UK · 21 Aug

Batrakov to Galatasaray
€25m deal ends the number 10 search

Lokomotiv MoscowGalatasarayGalatasarayFee€25mReliability100%
The story so far
  1. 20 Aug
    Deal announced
    Galatasaray notified the Turkish Football Federation that Batrakov had signed a five-year contract running until June 2031.
  2. 20 Aug · 11:50
    Arrives in Istanbul
    Batrakov's flight landed at Istanbul's Atatürk Airport general aviation terminal ahead of his medical and the deal being finalised.

The move in full

Galatasaray have completed a club-record sale for Lokomotiv Moscow, signing playmaker Aleksey Batrakov for a reported €25m on a five-year contract.

Galatasaray have completed the signing of Aleksey Batrakov from Lokomotiv Moscow, confirming a deal that runs until June 2031. The move was notified to the Turkish Football Federation on 20 August, with Lokomotiv paid a fee in the region of €25m — a club-record sale for the Russian side, according to figures reported by Russian outlets. Some Turkish reports described the overall package, including add-ons, as closer to €30m. Galatasaray president Dursun Ozbek confirmed the signing personally, telling reporters: "Our scouts say we're getting the best player money can buy. Our coach really likes him too... Everyone will see what a top-tier player we've brought in." Batrakov flew into Istanbul on the day the deal was finalised.

Galatasaray had been searching for a genuine number 10 since Dries Mertens left the club, and had already tried and failed to land Eintracht Frankfurt's Can Uzun and Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes earlier in the window, with both clubs holding out for higher fees. Batrakov became the alternative, and head coach Okan Buruk is understood to have played a direct part in winning him over — holding a video call with the player to talk through his tactical plans, the system Galatasaray wanted to build around him, and the role he would play. That personal pitch reportedly helped see off interest from clubs in Spain, Italy and France, and points to how central he is expected to be to Buruk's attacking plans.

For Lokomotiv Moscow, this is the most lucrative sale in the club's history, surpassing the fee they received for Aleksei Miranchuk's move to Atalanta. Batrakov came through the Lokomotiv academy and had established himself as the club's main creative outlet and top scorer, as well as being named the Russian Premier League's best young player in each of the last two seasons. He also has 12 caps for Russia. Losing a homegrown, title-calibre number 10 at 21 is a significant blow for a club that had built its attack around him, and Lokomotiv will now have to find a way to replace both his goals and his creativity in midfield.

Batrakov's form made the fee easy to justify. He finished last season as Lokomotiv's top scorer with 13 goals in 28 Russian Premier League appearances, contributing 22 goals and assists in total — comfortably his best campaign yet. He had also started the new Russian season strongly, with a goal and an assist in his appearances before the move, and an average match rating above 7.6. That consistency across two seasons, rather than one hot run of form, is what earned him back-to-back best young player awards in Russia and put him on the radar of clubs well beyond the Süper Lig.

At Galatasaray, Batrakov is expected to play centrally behind the striker, the free number 10 role Buruk has lacked a natural occupant for since Mertens' exit. He is right-footed, compact and known for combining well in tight areas — attributes suited to a possession-based Süper Lig side that likes to dominate the ball. The club were hopeful of getting him involved quickly, with a league trip to Erzurumspor following soon after his arrival, though that depended on him completing his medical and paperwork in time. Either way, Galatasaray now have a long-term answer to the number 10 problem that shaped much of their transfer business this summer.

What it does to the model

Galatasaray add a proven creator and goalscorer in behind the striker, which should feed into their chances created and goal threat numbers once he's settled into Okan Buruk's team. Lokomotiv Moscow lose the player their attack was built around, so their own goal output and creativity are likely to dip until they find a replacement. Bawler's ratings for both sides will adjust gradually as this season's matches are actually played and the new-look line-ups bed in.

How this is scored100%
  • Announced by the clubs100

A sourcing score, not a chance of completion: it grades how solid the reporting behind the move is. The stage and the evidence come from the sources listed below; the arithmetic is fixed in code, the same for every deal.

Sources

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