Struggling Anzhi Makhachkala have reached an agreement to sell Brazilian defender Joao Carlos to Moscow rivals Spartak, the seventh key player to quit the team after a drastic change in strategy, the clubs announced Thursday.
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.
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.
French former Chelsea, Arsenal and Real Madrid midfielder Lassana Diarra has joined Lokomotiv Moscow, as has Morocco international Moubarak Boussoufa.
Dinamo Moscow have already signed a trio of Russian internationals from Anzhi — captain Igor Denisov, former Chelsea midfielder Yury Zhirkov and striker Alexander Kokorin.
Midfielder Oleg Shatov has also joined Zenit St Petersburg.
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.
Willian is poised to sign a deal with English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur in a transfer worth 30 million sterling (35 million euros/$47 million), according to British media.
Anzhi sell Brazil's Joao Carlos to Spartak
