OFFICIAL: Yuri Zhirkov Is A Chelsea Player

[DavidEU 2,023]

Chelsea Football Club is delighted to confirm the signing of Yuri Zhirkov from CSKA Moscow today on a three-year contract.

The 25-year-old was at Cobham on Tuesday to complete the deal, and spoke exclusively to chelseafc.com.

'Any footballer would be happy to sign a contract with Chelsea, and at any time,' he said.

'I have been received very well here, and have been shown the base at the Cobham training ground, everything is super.'

The Russia international has already met some of the players, and is familiar with Chelsea's Russian links.

'Of course it is good when some of the players speak Russian, even today Petr Cech translated some bits and pieces, and I understand some words in English. Now I hope to learn English too, he explained.

'I always used to watch English football on the TV and know about Dmitri Kharine and Alexei Smertin at Chelsea.'

Zhirkov makes the move from CSKA Moscow whom he joined in 2004 from Spartak Tambov.

Born on August 201983 in Tambov, 430 miles south-east of Moscow, the left-sided player joined his local side as a 10-year-old, making his debut in 2001 and scoring 26 goals in 74 games for the Russian third division outfit.

His talents were noticed and he was given trials by CSKA, Lokomotiv and Spartak Moscow, but it was CSKA where he cemented his place as a wide man with a deft left foot, lightning pace and exceptional dribbling ability. He scored 15 goals in 139 appearances for the club.

He can play left-back but is comfortable in any position on that wing and it was as a more attacking left-sider that he won the Uefa Cup in 2005 after scoring during a 3-1 win over Sporting Lisbon in the final. The strike was his side's second in the game as they came back from a goal down.

During CSKA's 2006/07 campaign, Zhirkov's goal against Hamburg in the Champions League was awarded best goal of the competition by Uefa's magazine.

He first played for Russia on 9 February 2005 against Italy and has made 31 appearances for his country, the majority of which have come under Guus Hiddink's guidance.

He was named in the Euro 2008 Team of the Tournament after an impressive contribution throughout the competition as a wing-back when Russia were the surprise package in making the semi-finals. They lost to eventual winners Spain.

In October of the same year, Zhirkov was named as one of the 30 nominees for the European Ballon d'Or award. He was also voted 2008 Russian Premier League Player of the Season.

He is no stranger to silverware, winning the Russian Premier League twice with CSKA, once in 2005 and again in 2006.

He has three Russian Cups to his name, in 2005, 2006 and 2008, as well as four Russian Super Cups, the most recent of which was won last season.

In 2004 he faced Chelsea twice in the Champions League group stage and was part of a side that lost 2-0 at the Bridge. In the second game in the Russian capital, Zhirkov won a clear penalty when fouled by Glen Johnson. The spot-kick was missed and Chelsea went on to win 1-0.

http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0...1716204,00.html

[The Big Drog 1,110]

Absolutely delighted. He is a skillful winger who can get past people and thats something Chelsea have really lacked since Arjen Robben left. I thought last season at times the wings were our main problem , though Malouda really grew into his own towards the end of the season. I think that Zhirkov and Cole on the wings will be lethal.

[Wxgba 306]

I'm quite happy with the signing of Zhirkov.

I think the fee is a little steep, but all transfer fees are nowadays. Hopefully he'll turn out to be a very good player here at the Bridge.

[TrueChelseaBlue 105]

Very happy indeed!!

[Kez 2,727]

Very pleased

[warnie_666 1,081]

Good Signing. He hasnt reached his peak yet. He is swift and a work horse, can cover the entire left flank all by himself in no time according to Hiddink.

[Term-X 7,891]

Meh..

dosent really get me exited.. type of signing liverpool would make

not risky very safe and run of the mill.. mid table type of singing lacking ambition.

[NoFear 23]

Woow.. Hold on Mr. Terminator.. He is no Liverpool type of signings.. That wud be a regular 7-8m never heard before fullbacks in and out every yr !! This is an exciting prospect imho. Only 25, has his best yrs ahead of him, so y not !! Be positive dude !!

[EskWeston 696]

Very good signing and i am excited to see how he is going to fit into our team and what he can actually bring to the table. I think this could be a very very good signing for us.

[jerryballoono 0]

Watched him a fare bit playing for CSKA Moscow on TV over the past year or so & am very much looking forward to seeing him do the same for us next season. My wife loves Russian players & CSKA in particular so she is happy too.

[Alee. 182]

Joey and Zhirkov on wings

[millzy_chelsea_fan 4]

Woow.. Hold on Mr. Terminator.. He is no Liverpool type of signings.. That wud be a regular 7-8m never heard before fullbacks in and out every yr !! This is an exciting prospect imho. Only 25, has his best yrs ahead of him, so y not !! Be positive dude !!

[/quote

if it was a liverpool signing he would be spanish

[BlueLion. 21,491]

And, in general, shit.

[Shane 2,275]

Why pay £80,000,000 on Ronaldo when you can pay £18,000,000 on Zhirkov?

Excellent signing, Will destroy defences next season.

[warnie_666 1,081]

He is a work horse. Thats what im excited about. He is swift, he is a dribbler, very direct. Has yet to reach his peak. Can easily get 5 yrs out of him.

And he won Russian Player of the season ahead of Arshavin.

[.Cee 50]

He is a work horse. Thats what im excited about. He is swift, he is a dribbler, very direct. Has yet to reach his peak. Can easily get 5 yrs out of him.

And he won Russian Player of the season ahead of Arshavin.

So? Malouda won the French Player of the year, too, didn't he?

[Rambo 1,729]

Malouda was a great player on Lyon he deserved that award.

[.Cee 50]

Malouda was a great player on Lyon he deserved that award.

Yeah, well, I'm not saying he doesn't deserve the award. I'm saying these awards don't mean a great deal if he doesn't play well for us. Even after sufficient time to adapt to the team.

I won't get too excited until he proves himself. It'll just make me disappointed if he doesn't immediately play well in his first season.

Oh, and, credit to me for the sig would be appreciated.

Edited July 15, 2009 by .Citraningsih