Egor Khvalko: "In Azerbaijan, we were fighting to stay in the league" – INTERVIEW

Interview
27 August 2025 15:56
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Egor Khvalko: "In Azerbaijan, we were fighting to stay in the league" – INTERVIEW

Egor Khvalko, a player for Kazakhstan's Tobol, gave an interview to Sportal.az.

How did your transfer to Tobol happen? When did the offer from the Kostanay club arrive?

A Belarusian agent called me and mentioned this option. I agreed, and within two days, I signed a contract with Tobol.

Was staying in Azerbaijan ever a possibility? There were reports that Sumgayit was interested in you, and you could have stayed at Kapaz…

No club from Azerbaijan officially offered me a contract.

Did you leave Kapaz, or did Adil Shukurov not want you there?

I don’t know who in the team didn’t want me there, whether it was the management or the coach. I would have liked to continue playing for Kapaz.

Kapaz lost their first two matches and didn’t look very strong. Do you think Kapaz can remain in the Premier League this season? Why does the club usually only fight to avoid relegation?

I think they can. It’s just that the instructions from the new management were different from when we were in the team. It was clear that it’s difficult to sign higher-level players with the lowest budget.

You’ve already played two games in the Kazakhstan Championship with Tobol. Do you think there’s a big difference between the Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan leagues?

I can’t answer that yet because I’ve only played two games. You understand, in Azerbaijan, we were a team fighting to stay in the league. Every opponent was tough. But now I play for a team with completely different objectives, one of the league leaders. So the games are in a different context. I think I’ll be able to answer this question by the end of the season.

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