Zenit recruitment drive continues with Semak
Thursday, August 5, 2010
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Having prised Aleksandr Bukharov from FC Rubin Kazan last month, FC Zenit St. Petersburg have done business with the Russian champions again after agreeing to sign Sergei Semak.
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UEFA Champions League play-off contenders FC Zenit St. Petersburg have agreed a deal with FC Rubin Kazan to sign midfielder Sergei Semak.
The 34-year-old, whose 408 Russian top-flight matches place him second behind Dmitri Loskov on the league's all-time appearance list, will put pen to paper on a contract when he arrives in Saint Petersburg on Friday. Semak will become the second player to make the switch from Rubin to the Premier League leaders this summer, after striker Aleksandr Bukharov left the champions in an €11m transfer.
Almost 300 of Semak's appearances in Russia came during an 11-season spell with PFC CSKA Moskva between 1994 and 2004. From there he moved on to Paris Saint-Germain FC but after only 26 league matches in a little over 12 months he returned to his homeland with FC Moskva.
Rubin signed the 65-cap Russian international − who featured in their 2-0 loss to Zenit on Sunday − at the start of the 2008 campaign, during which time he has helped the Tatarstan club to successive league titles. Rubin begin their UEFA Champions League campaign in the group stage next month, while Zenit will learn the identity of their play-off opponents when the draw is conducted on Friday in Nyon.
