Russian star Yuri Zhirkov became a Chelsea player in the summer of 2009. His transfer to Chelsea was confirmed on July 6, 2009. The Blues paid around £18m to secure his transfer from CSKA Moscow in the Russian top flight thus making him the most expensive Russian footballer at the time. The previous record was held by Andrei Arshavin who left Russian team Zenit Saint Petersburg to sign for Arsenal at the start of 2009 in a deal believed to be around £15m.

Yuri Zhirkov put pen to paper on a four-year deal when he signed for Chelsea during the summer’s transfer window in 2009. His impact at Chelsea was instant after he scored on his debut for the club against Italian side AC Milan in a pre-season friendly and his goal turned out to be the difference between the two teams. He had to wait for his competitive debut due to injury. Continue reading “ZHIRKOV: CHELSEA CAREER IN FOCUS” →