Saudi Arabia’s aggressive policy of buying up well-known players playing in European leagues has also affected Russia. The Saudi club Al-Hilal acquires Malcolm, the top scorer of the previous Russian championship, from the flagship of the national football Zenit. The deal is valued at €50 million and will be one of the most expensive in the history of the Russian Premier League (RPL). For Zenit, it seems to make the issue of strengthening the squad with new high-quality players even more urgent, since the Brazilian striker is not the first noticeable loss of St. Petersburg before the next national championship starting on Friday.