A victory for Zenit St Petersburg at home to Rubin Kazan on Saturday would not guarantee them the league title but it would give them a lead of at least nine points with half of the Russian season played. They have been relentless of late, unbeaten since Luciano Spalletti took charge in December – their last defeat, in fact, came against FK Moskva on 31 October – and Saturday's 3-1 win at Rostov was their eighth in a row in the league.
The official Rubin website announced today that the striker will depart for Zenit but no official announcements have been made concerning the cost and length of the deal.