Head scout at Lokomotiv: we stayed up till 2am to complete the Pavlyuchenko deal

Lokomotiv Moscow’s head of scouting in exclusive interview to Sports.ru lifted the curtain over the Russian club’s negotiations with Tottenham about the transfer of striker Roman Pavlyuchenko.

«Olga Smorodskaya admitted that Pavlyuchenko is Loko’s most expensive signing since she started working here. Is it worth paying so much money for a 30-year-old player?»

«It certainly is, Pav is a top striker by any standard.»

«Were the talks in London the most difficult this winter?»

«Definitely. There was no problem agreeing the personal terms with Roman. He is a man of his word; he made a promise to us two months ago and stuck to it. But Spurs were hard to convince.»

«What were the negotiations like?»

«We didn’t meet with [Daniel – Sports.ru] Levi, but kept in touch via email. We knew exactly how much we wanted to pay for him. We knew about his own aspirations, and about [club manager’s ] Couceiro’s desire to see Pav in his team, so we expected Spurs to let him go eventually. On the last day before the deadline, we stayed up till 2 am finalising all the details. I thought my hair would go gray if Pavlyuchenko doesn’t come to us,» the scout said.