Stuttgart swoop for Pogrebnyak
Sunday, August 2, 2009
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VfB Stuttgart have completed the signing of striker Pavel Pogrebnyak, 25, from FC Zenit St. Petersburg for an undisclosed fee, the Russian international agreeing a three-year contract.
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UEFA Champions League hopefuls VfB Stuttgart have completed the signing of Russian international striker Pavel Pogrebnyak from FC Zenit St. Petersburg for an undisclosed fee.
Gómez replacement
The 25-year-old completed a medical with the Bundesliga outfit on Sunday before penning a three-year contract at the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion until 30 June 2012. Stuttgart had been in the market for a forward since they sold Mario Gómez to FC Bayern München in a record €30m deal earlier this summer and will hope that Pogrebnyak can come close to matching the 35 goals the Germany frontman struck in all competitions last term.
Scoring record
Signed from FC Tom Tomsk in 2007, Pogrebnyak scored 23 goals in 59 Premier-Liga appearances for Zenit as well as striking ten times in the club's victorious 2007/08 UEFA Cup campaign to finish as top scorer in the competition alongside Bayern's Luca Toni. Pogrebnyak − who opened the scoring in the 2008 UEFA Super Cup final victory against Manchester United FC − has flown back to Russia to complete the formalities of his transfer with Zenit and is expected to arrive for training with his new team-mates on Tuesday. Stuttgart, meanwhile, will learn the identity of their opponents in the UEFA Champions League play-off round when the draw is made in Nyon, Switzerland at 12.00CET on Friday.
