Croatian side Lokomotiva Zagreb have signed Kyrgyzstan international Erbol Atabaev, the current top scorer of the Kyrgyz Premier League. Muras United officially announced the transfer of the 25-year-old midfielder, with the financial terms of the deal remaining undisclosed.
The destination immediately raises an intriguing question: did Robert Prosinečki have a hand in the move?
Atabaev played for Kyrgyzstan under the Croatian coach, while Prosinečki closely monitored the domestic championship throughout his spell in charge of the national team. He and his staff regularly attended league matches as they searched for players capable of strengthening the national side.
There is no confirmation that Prosinečki personally recommended Atabaev to Lokomotiva. But given the timing of the move, the Croatian connection is difficult to ignore.
Once Atabaev makes his HNL debut, he will become the first Kyrgyz footballer to play in Croatia’s top division.
The midfielder leaves Kyrgyzstan at arguably the best moment of his career. Despite operating primarily in central midfield, Atabaev leads the domestic championship scoring race with 16 goals.
After the first half of the season, he had already produced 13 goals and nine assists in 15 matches — extraordinary numbers for a player in his position.
But Atabaev’s influence goes well beyond statistics. He has been the central figure in Muras United’s attacking game, capable of dropping deep to build possession, breaking lines with his passing, creating chances and finishing attacks himself.
By the summer, it had become increasingly clear that he had outgrown the level of the Kyrgyz championship.
Muras, meanwhile, have repeatedly fallen short of their biggest ambitions. The club narrowly missed out on the Kyrgyz title in 2025, finishing one point behind Bars. Atabaev joined the team the following January, but even his arrival did not bring the major continental breakthrough the club had been chasing.
With Atabaev in midfield, Muras reached the semi-finals of the 2025/26 AFC Challenge League, where they were eliminated by Kuwait SC and missed out on the final.
The new continental campaign proved even more disappointing. In August 2026, Muras failed to even reach the AFC Challenge League group stage, losing 1-0 to Bangladesh’s Fortis FC in the preliminary round.
For one of the strongest players in the Kyrgyz league, a move to a more demanding championship had therefore become the logical next step.
Atabaev was born in Kant on August 15, 2001, and had an unusually international football education. He started at Abdysh-Ata, spent time in Rubin Kazan’s academy and later moved to Spain.
In 2012, he passed a trial at Barcelona and spent around a year in the Catalan club’s youth system before continuing his development with several teams in Catalonia. In total, Atabaev spent almost a decade in Spain.
One of the most important stages of his senior career came at Dynamo Makhachkala.
Atabaev joined the Russian club in early 2022 and quickly became an important player in a team fighting for promotion. His long-range goal against Anzhi helped Dynamo secure the result that guaranteed their promotion to the Russian First League ahead of schedule.
He went on to make 40 appearances for the Makhachkala club, including 31 in the First League.
His stay could have lasted longer. Dynamo had the option to continue the relationship, but Atabaev left in the summer of 2023. According to Eurasia Football information, the decision was not primarily related to his football ability. His strong personality and difficulties in relationships inside the team played a role in the separation.
He subsequently joined Volgar Astrakhan, where he added another 21 appearances in the Russian First League. Overall, Atabaev has played more than 50 matches at Russia’s second-tier level.
His Russian spell also coincided with his emergence for the Kyrgyzstan national team.
Atabaev has represented the senior side since 2022 and has already collected 25 caps. He featured during the 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign and became a regular option in central midfield.
Returning to Kyrgyzstan eventually gave him what he needed most — regular playing time and the freedom to become a decisive attacking player.
In 2025, while playing for Abdysh-Ata, he finished as the league’s leading assist provider with 16 assists. After joining Muras, his attacking numbers reached another level.
Lokomotiva now offers a considerably tougher challenge.
The move also makes sense from Lokomotiva’s perspective.
Zagreb’s midfield has undergone a significant rebuild over the past eight months. Attacking midfielder Fabijan Krivak, one of the club’s standout players, was sold to Sigma Olomouc in January, while Blaž Bošković left for Debrecen after making 33 league appearances last season. Veteran midfielder Domagoj Antolić also retired in May after 101 appearances for Lokomotiva.
There is still plenty of competition. Eighteen-year-old Matija Subotić has started all four league games this season, Ivan Katić has started three, while Jakov-Anton Vasilj has been the main option in the more advanced midfield role. Leon Belcar and Feta Fetai provide further depth.
Atabaev, however, offers something different. He is not coming to Zagreb as a holding midfielder. His biggest value lies further forward: carrying the ball through midfield, arriving in the box, creating chances and, above all, scoring. None of Lokomotiva’s current central midfielders can match the attacking output he produced in Kyrgyzstan.
In that sense, the transfer looks less like a gamble on an exotic market and more like a very typical Lokomotiva move — taking a player who has clearly outgrown his domestic league and giving him the platform to prove himself at a higher level.
The Zagreb club finished fifth in Croatia’s top division last season and has a strong reputation for developing players and providing them with a platform for moves further up the European football ladder.
Atabaev therefore arrives not as an untested prospect, but as a mature 25-year-old international with almost a decade of football education in Spain, more than 50 appearances in the Russian First League, 25 caps for Kyrgyzstan and the best scoring season of his career.
For Kyrgyz football, the move is significant as well. No player from the country has previously appeared in Croatia’s top flight.
Atabaev has already shown that he can dominate in Kyrgyzstan. Croatia will now show whether he can translate that influence to a much stronger league — and perhaps open the door to an even bigger European move.