Belgian outside hitter Sam Deroo of Zenit (Kazan) is on the verge of a transfer to Lokomotiv, according to sources from BO Sport. There was interest in him from Polish clubs Olsztyn and Lublin, as well as Belogorie, but Lokomotiv's offer proved to be the most concrete financially.

Due to health problems this season, Deroo has played only 12 matches in the Russian championship, but since returning to play, he has again been a key figure. Zenit's coach Alexey Verbov called him a "volleyball Einstein" because of his intelligent style and high level of overall play.

Deroo is a proven winner, having won titles with Dynamo and Zenit. His experience and class will be a valuable asset for Lokomotiv, which has struggled for years to find quality foreign outside hitters.

Currently, there is no new publicly available information in the Russian press regarding the current status of the relationship between Sam Deroo and former national team player Dobriana Rabadzhieva. The last information is from about nine months ago, when Deroo shared that during the past season, the two were separated due to their professional commitments on different continents, but expressed hope that the next season would be easier as Rabadzhieva would be in Kazan.