Clubs: FC Zenit St Petersburg

UEFA honours
UEFA Cup: winner 2008
UEFA Super Cup: winner 2008

• Born and brought up in St Petersburg, Denisov attended the local Smena football academy and joined Zenit in 2001 at the age of 17.

• Made his first-team breakthrough in the 2003 season, scoring two goals in 19 appearances, and eventually settled into an advanced midfield role behind twin attackers Andrey Arshavin and Aleksandr Kerzhakov.

• Captained Russia's Under-21 side but did not make his senior international debut until 11 October 2008, against Germany, having turned down a late offer from coach Guus Hiddink to participate at UEFA EURO 2008.

• Came into contention for a national-team spot after helping Zenit win the 2007 Premier-Liga and 2008 UEFA Cup, scoring the opening goal in the Manchester final against Rangers FC; added the UEFA Super Cup to his trophy collection, playing all 90 minutes of a 2-1 defeat of Manchester United FC in Monaco.

• An established Russian international during the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, he won the domestic double with Zenit in 2010.