Mucha to Arsenal Tula

The Slovak football goalkeeper Ján Mucha is leaving second-division Samara and will spend the rest of the season with another Russian team, Arsenal Tula, which currently sits second from bottom in the top-flight table. The 32-year-old national team player will be on loan in Tula, located about 200 km from Moscow, until June 10 this year, his agent Jozef Tokos confirmed.

“It’s amusing that we agreed with Arsenal, considering that the London one wanted him back in 2009 as a backup. At that time, we didn’t finalize the deal; it happened only five and a half years later – although with a different Arsenal,” joked Tokos. According to him, Tula had already shown interest in Mucha last summer. “Back then, Jano decided to stay in Samara, but now he wanted a change. He’s moving to a top-flight team, and the coach wants him as a replacement for 41-year-old Filimonov, who played the entire autumn. Mucha is expected to be the first-choice goalkeeper,” added Tokos.

Tula will start the spring season against Rubin Kazan and then face four Moscow teams in succession – Lokomotiv, CSKA, Torpedo, and Spartak. “I’m happy we managed to arrange this loan. If Samara is promoted to the top division in the spring, a return to that club is possible,” Ján Mucha briefly told Šport. Yesterday, Mucha flew from Samara to Moscow and later joined his new teammates.