Yury Zhirkov moves to Anzhi Makhachkala from Chelsea

Russia national team and Chelsea defender Yury Zhirkov may continue his career at Anzhi Makhachkala. According to Sport-Express, the player is now at the club’s temporary training ground in the Moscow suburb of Kratovo.

Zhirkov has reportedly agreed the terms of his contract with the Russian club. It is believed that Chelsea defender only needs to settle some minor details of the transfer and pass medical examination.

According to another Russian newspaper, Sovetsky Sport, the agreement between the 27-year-old player and Anzhi will be signed for four years. In case Chelsea accept the conditions offered by Anzhi, Zhirkov may feature for his new team as soon as next week, within the framework of the Russian Premier League Matchday 19 against Tom Tomsk.

Zhirkov himself did not confirm the reports suggesting he had arrived in Russia to sign a contract with another club. «I have arrived for two days to spend my weekend here,» Zhirkov said to Bobsoccer.ru.

However, Anzhi defender Rasim Tagirbekov did confirm the link between Zhirkov and his club. «Of course, Yura is a great player. Everybody in the team is very glad that he will join our club. This transfer will strengthen Anzhi a lot. Zhirkov has already managed to talk to the team’s head coach Gadzhi Gadzhiev and practically all the players,» Tagirbekov said to Izvestia.