When Abramovich took over the running of the club, many (somewhat patronisingly) expected an influx of Russian players as a means of enhancing the prospects of the national team. Alexei Smertin's incomprehensible signing may have strengthened that impression, but he was one of only two so far - although we were linked with Alan Dzagoyev for a while - with the other being CSKA's highly rated left midfielder, Yuri Zhirkov. Picked up for £18 million in the same summer as Andriy Arshavin moved to Arsenal for a similarly lofty £15 million, neither Russian covered themselves in glory and failed to find a place in either team. Zhirkov's problem was that Chelsea already had strong options in both his chosen positions, with Malouda finally coming into his own in the left forward position of Carlo Ancelotti's 4-3-3 and Ashley Cole immovable as first choice left-back. Ultimately it was as backup to Cole where Zhirkov saw most of his action, particularly when the England full-back was ruled out for three months that Christmas. He still only managed 27 appearances in his first season and 21 in his second, playing reasonably well but often denied the opportunity to play in his preferred position further up the field. He finally moved back to Russia in 2011, signing for Anzhi for £13.2 million. He was a player Chelsea had reportedly been looking at for a long time and while it was clear that he certainly had plenty of talent, it just happened to be the wrong time for him to arrive in London and another strange case of the club making a big signing they clearly had no room for.
28-year old English writer with a borderline obsessive passion for films, videogames, Chelsea FC, incomprehensible words and indefensible puns. Follow me on Twitter if you like infrequent outbursts of absolute drivel.
