The Italian tactician urges Zenit St. Petersburg to concentrate on UEFA Champions League tie against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/SL-Benfica-c40542
With http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Danko-Lazovic-c10188 set to leave the Petrovsky stadium during this transfer window, Zenit St. Petersburg would be left with only two first team strikers, Alexander Kerzhakov and Alexander Bukharov.
Since the Italian tactician has taken over the helm, neither of the two strikers have been too reliable. Kerzhakov has had injury troubled domestic seasons, failing to mark more than 22 league appearances and a measly two UEFA
Champions League outings this season.
On the other hand, Bukharov has been lacking the clinical touch in front of the goal, having scored just 5 goals in 27 league appearances.
Keeping these statistics in mind, Luciano Spalletti, the Meshki head coach, had earlier requested the Russian outfit to provide him with sufficient transfer funds to sign a potential replacement for the departing Lazovic.
If speculations are to believed, Spalletti requested Gazprom, the St. Petersburg’s owners, to let him sign Juventus FC forward, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Vincenzo-Iaquinta-c36199.
However, Zenit have yet to make any enquiry regarding the striker, despite reports strongly linking the club to the Italian national.
In the meanwhile, Iaquinta is not the only name linked with the reigning champions. Reports in Russia suggest that Zenit are also chasing Arsenal FC’s out-of-favour striker, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Andrei-Arshavin-c5771, who could make an emotional return his
former club.
“Arshavin is a great player. I really appreciate his work as a footballer and on top of that he is loved by the St. Petersburg fans. But I do not think it's time to discuss his possible transition. We have a serious game against
a serious opponent.
“I mean the Champions League match against Benfica. We have a strong team and I will work with this team to get a decent result.” The Russian Cup winner was quoted as saying.
Zenit will take on the Portuguese outfit a month before the start of the domestic championship. Spalletti revealed that they have enough time to prepare for the upcoming crunch European home clash and assured the fans of an entertaining
performance.
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