Zenit pay record €30m for Danny

FC Zenit St. Petersburg have broken the Russian transfer record by signing 25-year-old Portugal midfielder Danny from FC Dinamo Moskva for €30m.

'Best midfielder'
Danny's transfer shatters the previous highest fee in Russian football, which Dinamo themselves set with the €16m purchase of another Portuguese international midfielder, Maniche, from FC Porto in May 2005. Zenit, who have not disclosed details on the length of Danny's contract, have been chasing the Venezuelan-born playmaker for the past two months and coach Dick Advocaat was delighted to have finally got his man. "We've been interested in Danny for a while now," he said. "I consider him the best midfielder in the Russian league and he can become a very useful member of our team. I see Danny as an attacking midfielder or winger."

International debut
Danny, who moved to Portugal when he was 15, made his international debut as a substitute in the 5-0 friendly defeat of the Faroe Islands last Wednesday. He joined Dinamo in 2005 from Sporting Clube de Portugal and the former CS Marítimo academy product quickly adapted to life in Russia. He has scored 16 goals in 97 Premier-Liga games and made his final appearance for Dinamo in their 1-1 draw with city rivals FC Spartak Moskva on Saturday.

Arshavin speculation
Advocaat denied that Danny's arrival would pave the way for the departure of forward Andrei Arshavin, whose future has been the subject of much speculation. "No, because Andrei is still with Zenit, and I am still not sure if he is going away," Advocaat said. The Dutchman led Zenit to their first European trophy in May when they defeated Rangers FC in the UEFA Cup final. They play Manchester United FC in the UEFA Super Cup final in Monaco on Friday and will compete in the UEFA Champions League for the first time after winning the Premier-Liga last season.