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Fulham have found a short term solution for their search for a strker by bringing in Pavel Pogrebnyak from Stuttgart for an undisclosed fee in the wee hours of Tuesday night. Manager Martin Jol had been trying to sign a striker ever since rumours of a rift with Bobby Zamora come to the fore and the announcement of landing the Russian international was delayed till the club confirmed Zamora's departure for Queens Park Rangers.
Spartak Moscow was the club where Pogrebnyak started his senior career and he was loaned out to various other clubs during his time there. He was eventually signed by Zenit St. Petersburg in 2007 and he went on to spend 3 seasons there, during the course of which he scored 39 goals in 90 appearances. The 28-year old was then signed by Stuttgart in the summer of 2009 and since then he has made 87 appearances for them, scoring 22 goals in the process.
The player had earlier in an interview to Sovetskiy Sport stated, 'It has been a childhood dream to play in England. They have a strong and interesting championship. What's more, before the European Championship I have to play and at Fulham I will get this chance. This was a determining factor in my choice. At Stuttgart I was treated like a pig. I didn't want to stay there. In the last game against Schalke I played almost the entire match and then everyone said I was one of the most active on the pitch. Then in the next game, I didn't even have a place on the bench. I am sure that by doing this they wanted to provoke my exit from the team. After that, I called my agent and said, "We must leave!"
He went on to add, "Yesterday the medical lasted for more than six hours - they examined every inch of me! I've never had such a long and careful examination in my career. Fulham's medical team were satisfied with my condition. They say that in England I will be able to bulk up even more physically and I'll be powerful and agile, like a beast. In the Premier League strikers work a lot with their bodies and without physicality it's difficult."
This signing is a big one as far as Fulham are concerned, especially since the striker has earlier been linked to clubs like Liverpool and Tottenham. Although Zamora and Johnson have been doing a good job for the club, Pogrebnyak is a proven international player with 8 goals in 30 appearances for Russia.
The only real surprise is the duration of the contract - just 6 months!
- 02/02/2012 16:15 - Ryan Nelsen finally completes move to Spurs
- 01/02/2012 14:07 - January Transfer Window Wrap: Premier League reins in spending
- 01/02/2012 12:24 - Pavlyuchenko heads back to Russia with Lokomotiv Moscow
