Girona is already rubbing its hands with its serial scorer Artem Dovbyk!

This Sunday, La Liga offered many crazy scenarios in the title race. Led 2-0 by bottom Almeria, Real Madrid snatched a 3-2 victory amid controversy. FC Barcelona was joined by Real Betis Balompié at 2-2 with a double from Isco before winning 4-2. Under pressure in the face of the positive results of its competitors, Girona was therefore expected to turn the corner. Especially since the Catalan club disappointed last week against Almeria (0-0). And there could be concern when Isaac Romero opened the scoring for Sevilla quickly (10th) but in the process, Girona was able to respond thanks to Ukrainian lightning. Achieving a hat-trick in six minutes (13th, 15th and 19th), striker Artem Dovbyk completely turned the match around, allowing his team to raise its head and finally win 5-1. As a result, Girona regained the lead in La Liga with one point ahead of Real Madrid (but one more match on the clock).

“It’s incredible. The speed, verticality and support of the middle and center players… are great. We were a very vertical team with a lot of determination. Dovbyk has the ability to score goals, the third is one of the most spectacular we have seen. These players deserve everything, it’s a spectacle to watch them train. I really appreciate them and I recognize their talent” said Michel at the end of this part, proud of Artem Dovbyk’s score. A meeting which confirms the great form of the 26-year-old attacker. Best player in La Liga last December, he displays incredible standards with Girona with 14 goals and 6 assists in 20 games. This is also 11 goals and 4 offerings in the last 11 matches played in the league for the native of Cherkasy. He finds himself joint top scorer in the championship with Jude Bellingham and one unit behind Savio as the best passer in the championship.

A value that has been multiplied by 6

An insolent success for a player landed for only 7.75 million euros in Girona from Dnipro-1 this summer. Artem Dovbyk certainly had an incredible 2022/2023 season in the Ukrainian championship with 29 goals and 8 goals in 39 matches, but his journey was quite chaotic. Having moved to Cherkaskyi Dnipro and FK Dnipro-Dnipropetrovsk at the start of his career, two clubs which no longer exist, he had shown good qualities and Lens was among the clubs interested in his services in 2018. Finally leaving for Midtjylland in Denmark, he failed there with 22 appearances for 1 goal and it was only on his return to Ukraine in 2020 that he really exploded at Dnipro-1. This also allowed him to play in Euro 2020 where he was the hero of Zbirna by catapulting the team into the quarter-finals by beating Sweden 2-1 after extra time.

Now with a new status (23 caps, 7 goals), he chose Girona this summer where he found his compatriot Viktor Tsygankov who is also shining. Moreover, Olympique de Marseille had tried it. “There were already discussions 6 months ago but it has intensified since then. Everything is possible. Why not, the team is fighting for the Champions League. The most important thing is to have an agreement” the player announced to Megogo last spring. Finally arriving in Spain, Artem Dovbyk seems to have the right choice by ideally acclimatizing to La Liga and having a great start to the season. And obviously, the contenders are already there like Atlético de Madrid and Chelsea who are already in the running.

But quickly, Girona sporting director Pere Guardiola took out the barbed wire: “the locker room is not a supermarket, we don’t have offers for anyone. Not for Aleix from Barça, not for Dovbyk from Chelsea, not for anyone. And we have no intention of selling to anyone either. The fact is that journalists really like the transfer window. Look, the truth is we have a good team. Obviously, and this is normal, things happen eventually. People notice because we do things well.” Already estimated at 45 million euros, Artem Dovbyk could see this amount increase over the coming weeks and months if he continues this dynamic. Girona, which is having a dream season on all fronts, can already rub its hands.