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Luis Silva has without doubt made the starting striker spot his own, and the Armenian DP continues to ride the bench. That being said, 2 millions dollars sitting on the bench and playing an occasional 15 minutes is only one of many reasons fans have speculated that he might be on his way out. Let’s break some of these indicators down.
In the midst of a club slump, Yura Movsisyan found himself losing the starting spot to Luis Silva.
What followed was a public skiff with Coach Mike Petke, and other antics including shushing the sideline after scoring a goal, and for multiple games in a row, ditching his teammates and running immediately to the locker room after the final whistle. This is topped with multiple reports indicating that he may be a toxic presence in the locker room.
In the midst of this as previously reported Paul Tenorio came out and said that there were potential negotiations to trade Yura to the LA Galaxy on July 6th. This never came to fruition and seems even less likely with the recent Galaxy signing of Jonathan dos Santos from Villarreal in La Liga. This rumor was followed two weeks later by a tweet from MLS Transfers which indicated that Yura was looking to be shipped off on loan to SK Slavia Prague who looked to bolster there depth as they prepare for Champions League runoffs. Since then, things have been relatively quiet until recently with two sources claiming that despite the transfer window beginning to shut Yura may still be finding himself wearing new colors.
Source: Slavia Prague have asked for time evaluating multiple targets, one is a loan for Yura Movsisyan.
— MLS Transfers (@MLSTransfers) August 4, 2017
It appears that the SK Sparta Prague deal may not be dead after all, and that Yura Movsisyan may be one of multiple targets the Czech club is looking at. Although the same source also noted that this is the only deal regarding Movsisyan that is currently in the works, thus contradicting this other leak that came to surface on Thursday.
Lokomotiv have reportedly put eyes on three strikers: Teemu Pukki (Brøndby), Yura Movsisyan (Real Salt Lake) and Welliton (Kayserispor).
— Stefano Conforti (@confortistefano) August 2, 2017
FC Lokomotiv Moscow is a club in the Russian Premier League and the city rival of Movsisyan’s former club FC Spartak Moscow. As a result, it seems like a logically sound move for FC Lokomotiv, but accuracy of this rumor remains far from certain.
Whether Yura leaves this transfer window remains unknown, but it seems to be less likely than it is. Although unless things spin a 180, it is almost certain that the DP striker will be sold in the offseason.