Islam Feruz set for loan move to random Russian club

It's been an oddly quiet few months from Islam Feruz who spent last summer on tour with Chelsea but has simply disappeared off the radar this offseason.  He did travel with a Chelsea youth contingent to a tournament in Hong Kong after declining an invitation to join up with Scotland U21s.

With many expecting a loan for the young striker who so impressed with Chelsea U18 a couple seasons ago, the lack of any news could be somewhat discouraging.  He was one of the leading appearance-makers for Chelsea U21 last season, yet had no appearances so far this season.  Finally, there is news today -- confirming Twitter whisperings from a few days ago -- but it only adds to this rather odd Feruz situation.

A report out of Russia claims that Islam has passed a medical with a Russian second (!) division team called FC Krylia Sovetov, which means "Wings of the Soviets."  Poetic.  They are based in Samara (formerly Kuybyshev), a rather sizable city on the banks of the Volga, so it's not like it's in the middle of nowhere, but still a rather odd choice.  According to his agent, it's all part of a process.

"I told Islam that he needed to pass the test of Russia's second tier...trains and buses w/o air-con, getting to other cities at midnight."

— Chelsea Youth (@chelseayouth) August 27, 2014

Chelsea do like to challenge their loanees by placing them out of their comfort zone, but this one still seems a bit extreme.

Regardless, the loan move is expected to be finalized tomorrow.  After eight games in the new season (the Russians switched to the European playing calendar not too long ago), Krylia Sovetov sit 6th, two points off the promotion playoff places.  Based on their goalscoring totals so far (just 9 goals in the league), Feruz certainly has a chance to make an impact.