Veteran Russian left-back Yuri Zhirkov spent two years as an Anzhi Makhachkala player on the back of his spell in the Premier League with West London giants Chelsea. Yuri Zhirkov had a two-year spell at Chelsea until his transfer back to Russia in the colours of Anzhi in 2011.

On August 6, 2013, AnzhiMakhachkala put their whole first team squad for sale following the decision to concentrate on youth development. To this effect, Zhirkov and others left the club to join some of the other clubs in the Russian top flight. Yuri Zhirkov was one of the three players who first left Anzhi Makhachkala to sign for the same club, Dynamo Moscow. Russian international Yuri Zhirkovsigned for Dynamo Moscow alongsideAleksandrKokorin and Igor Denisov on August 15, 2013 for an undisclosed fee.

In his first season as a Dynamo Moscow player, Yuri Zhirkov played 14 times in the league netting three goals in the process. He scored one of the two goals in a 2-0 victory over KrylyaSovetov Samara on his debut on September 29, 2013. Zhirkov scored his second and third goal for his new team during the 4-2 win over former side CSKA Moscow on March 9, 2014.

One of the biggest contributions for Zhirkov in a Dynamo Moscow shirt was when he scored the winning goal as a substitute against Dutch side PSV Eindhoven in the UEFA Europa League in October 2014.

After spending two-and-a-half years with Dynamo Moscow, Yuri Zhirkov moved to Zenit Saint Petersburg during the 2016 winter transfer window. On January 26, 2016, Zenit announced that they have reached a two-year deal with the left-back. The Russian player would have joined Zenit on a free transfer at the end of his Dynamo Moscow contract at the end of the 2015/16 season if the two teams didn’t agree on a deal for him. He joined Zenit officially on January 30, 2016.