Struggling Anzhi Makhachkala have reached an agreement to sell Brazilian defender Joao Carlos to Spartak Moscow rivals Spartak, the seventh key player to quit the team after a drastic change in strategy, the clubs announced Thursday.
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The Dagestan side's owner Suleiman Kerimov earlier this month decided to scale down the club's ambitions and drastically shrink its budget in a move that rocked the Russian football world.
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As a result of Kerimov's dramatic change in policy at Anzhi, almost all of the star players signed in a bid to make the Dagestan side world beaters are being put on the market.
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French former Chelsea, Arsenal and Real Madrid midfielder Lassana Diarra has joined Lokomotiv Moscow, as has Morocco international Moubarak Boussoufa.
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Dinamo Moscow have already signed a trio of Russian internationals from Anzhi – captain Igor Denisov, former Chelsea midfielder Yury Zhirkov and striker Alexander Kokorin.
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Midfielder Oleg Shatov has also joined Zenit St Petersburg.
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The next big name to exit Anzhi appears set to be the classy Brazilian international attacking midfielder Willian, who Anzhi only signed at the end of last season.
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Willian is poised to sign a deal with English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur in a transfer worth 30 million sterling (€35 million/$47 million), according to British media.
Selling of players amongst football clubs right now is very important cos fresh and new players have to come in!