DIFFICULT LIFE

Anzhi Makhachkala manager Gadzhi Gadzhiev has stated that the club are more likely to be relegated at the end of the season. This stunning admission comes in the wake of several financial problems at the club. After being funded by Russian billionaire Suleiman Kerimov for the last few years, the club splashed out heavily on players like Samuel Eto’o. Even more than the transfer fees, the wages paid to some of the players made them the best paid in the world. However, after running into problems in his personal and professional life, Kerimov has been faced with severe financial difficulties.

This has translated into Anzhi Makhachkala being pulled out of Kerimov’s purse. This has left the club stranded and they have had to sell star names like Willian for massive fees to clubs abroad. In the case of Willian, the Brazilian midfielder joined Chelsea for a fee believed to be worth around £ 30 million. After the sale of such important players, the club has been managing through with youth team players.

This has consequently resulted in a massive drop in form, as they have managed just one win in the last 22 matches. They are now bottom of the Russian league table and Gadzhiev says that they have only a 20% chance of being in the Russian top division next season. The club were in the lower leagues of Russian football before Kerimov arrived. He funded the club with several new players along with top class infrastructure to go along with it.

“Our chances of staying in the PL are 20 to 30 percent,” said the manager about their survival chances. Anzhi Makhachkala were knocked out of Europe after suffering a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Dutch outfit AZ Alkmaar earlier in the campaign. It looks highly unlikely that they will be in Europe in the near future.