What Happened to 18 Players Signed by Anzhi Makhachkala in Wild Spending Spree
From 2011 to 2013, Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala were looking to send shockwaves through the entire football world.
Nowadays, clubs in the Saudi Pro League are spending huge money in order to attract some of football's biggest stars to the Middle East.
The likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, N'Golo Kante and Fabinho are all currently playing in Saudi Arabia.
However, before the Saudi clubs burst onto the scene, Anzhi Makhachkala were the talk of the town.
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Back in 2011, a Russian billionaire named Suleyman Kerimov, who was worth £7.2 billion at the time, bought his hometown club, Anzhi Makhachkala.
Kerimov had big plans for the team and splashed mega money to bring some of football's most well-known players to the club.
During Kerimov's time at the helm, Anzhi Makhachkala completed 18 major transfers and were rewarded with third place in the Russian Premier League during the 12/13 season.
Under the guidance of Guus Hiddink, Anzhi Makhachkala beat Premier League giants Liverpool in the Europa League.
However, things began to unravel in 2013, after Kerimov lost £5.5 billion on an investment.
As a result, Anzhi Makhachkala had to sell their big-name players and were eventually stripped of their professional status.
So, who signed for Anzhi Makhachkala before the club entered freefall?
Roberto Carlos - Free
The Brazilian legend was handed a whopping contract worth £8.6 million over two years and was also gifted a Bugatti Veyron for his birthday. He retired in 2012.
Willian - £31.5 million
The most expensive signing of the Kerimov era, Willian played 17 matches in total before being sold to Chelsea.
The Brazilian was recently in England playing for Fulham in the Premier League.
Samuel Eto'o - £24.3 million
After signing for Anzhi Makhachkala, Eto'o became the highest-paid player in world football.
The striker left for Chelsea in 2013 and retired in 2019.
The following players also signed for Anzhi Makhachkala during the Kerimov era:
Aleksandr Kokorin - £17.1 million
Lacina Traore - £12.6 million
Igor Denisov - £13.5 million
Yuri Zhirkov - £13.5 million
Balazs Dzsudzsak - £12.6 million
Chris Samba - £12.6 million & £10.44 million
Jucilei - £9 million
Moubarak Boussoufa - £7.2 million
Vladimir Gabulov - £6 million
Mehdi Carcela-Gonzalez - £5.13 million
Ewerton - £4.86 million
Lassana Diarra - £4.5 million
Diego Tardelli - £4.5 million
Andrey Yeshchenko - £4.3 million
Oleg Shatov - £2.5 million
Marcus Chan