Willian has agreed Anzhi move, says Lucescu

Shakhtar Donetsk coach Mircea Lucescu has confirmed that Willian has agreed a move to Anzhi Makhachkala.

Rumours circulated earlier on Thursday that the Dagestan outfit were interested in signing the Brazilian, who has recently attracted the attention of both Chelsea and Tottenham.

However, it seems that he has set his sights on a switch to the Russian Premier League after his release clause was triggered.

"This is personal decision, and we must respect it," Lucescu told Sport Express.

"There is a club willing to pay the release clause in his contract, and Willian agreed to move. There is nothing I can do.

"To tell you frankly, I tried to convince him to stay because I think his decision is hasty and not thought out well enough. He is like a son to me.

"He came to Shakhtar almost as a child and leaves us as a 24-year-old man. I told him he would have achieved more with us when we said goodbye.

"Why did he not listen to me? I guess he was under huge pressure from his agent and his relatives that wanted to get everything at once."

Redknapp: QPR looking into Crouch and Samba deals

QPR boss Harry Redknapp has admitted interest in signing Peter Crouch and Christopher Samba, but suggested both deals would be difficult to conclude.

Crouch played under Redknapp at Tottenham but has recently fallen out of favour at Stoke, while the 65-year-old is a long-term admirer of former Blackburn centre-back Samba.

"These are two players whose names have been mentioned but at the moment we're not close to doing anything," Redknapp told reporters.

"Crouch's name came up in a meeting with the chairman but I don't think Stoke want to sell him.

"On Samba, again the chairman is dealing with this. At this stage I don't think that's a goer.

"I like Christopher Samba and he is a very good player but at this stage I don't see him leaving Russia. Things can changes but at this stage we're not close to doing anything."

Eduardo aiming to win trophies with new club Flamengo

Flamengo's new signing Carlos Eduardo has declared that he wants to help his new club win titles.

The Brazilian has arrived at the Engenhao on an 18-month loan deal from Rubin Kazan and is looking to get his career back on track after failing to adapt to the demands of Russian football.

While being presented to the media, Eduardo did his best to endear himself to the club's fans while revealing his aim is to win trophies with Flamengo.

"My goal is to return to the Brazil national team, however, first I want to help Flamengo win something," he told Lancenet.

"Flamengo are one of the biggest clubs in the world. The fans here are great and they were a key factor in my decision."

Eduardo endured a torrid time in Russia as he failed to get back into the team following a serious knee injury that required surgery.

"The coach at Rubin Kazan was afraid to play me after because I still felt a lot of pain. In 2012, as a result, I barely played. The year did not work out well for me."

The former 1899 Hoffenheim player will don the number 10 jersey for h is new side and could make his debut in two weeks' time.

"I have recovered well from my injury, but I have to improve my physical part. Despite doing two workouts a day, it is not the same when you do it at training," he added.

I think in two weeks I will be back to my ideal weight and I could be ready.

Spartak Moscow agree transfer for Rubins Salvatore Bocchetti

Spartak Moscow have announced the signing of centre-back Salvatore Bocchetti from Rubin Kazan, subject to the passing of a medical.

The Italian had been expected to move back to his homeland, with both Juventus and Napoli both interested, but the player has elected to remain in the Russian Premier League.

Should he pass a medical examination at the beginning of next week, the Italian will sign a contract with Spartak," a statement on the capital club's website read.

The 26-year-old started his career at Ascoli, and after spells at Lanciano and Frosinone, made his name at Genoa.

He made the move to Russia in 2010, and made over 50 appearances for Rubin.

Since making his international debut in 2009, Bocchetti has won five caps for the Azzurri.

Real Madrid & Barcelona continue to dominate football rich list as Manchester City enter top 10

• Real Madrid crowned as world's richest club for eighth year in a row
• Top-six placings remain unchanged
• Clubs from five different countries in top 20
• Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund & Napoli climb most places - five
• EPL has most representatives
• Italy continue to struggle
• Combined revenues grow 10 per cent

Real Madrid and Barcelona once more dominate footballs rich list as the Spanish duo are still miles ahead of their rivals from England, Germany, Italy and France. According to the 2012 Deloitte Football Money League, published on Thursday, the Liga giants remain the only clubs with annual revenue over 450 million.

Real Madrid top the Football Money League for the eighth year in succession, thus equalling Manchester Uniteds dominance in the top position during the first eight years of the Money League, and became the first club in any sport to surpass the 500m revenue thres hold in a single year.

"It is an impressive achievement for Real Madrid to have surpassed 500m in revenue in a single year. Real have led the way in the phenomenal rate of revenue growth achieved by the games top clubs," Dan Jones, Partner in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte said.

However, the reigning Spanish champions are being chased hard by arch-rivals Barcelona, whose growth in 2011-12 leaves them only 17m short of the 500m mark. Even though the Catalans couldnt quite match their on-pitch success from 2010-11, the club enjoyed 32.3m (seven per cent) revenue growth.

Uniteds failure to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League in 2011-12 meant they were unable to prevent a Spanish one-two for the fourth successive year, but Sir Alex Ferguson's side remain the proud number three in the rankings.

For the fifth successive year, the clubs comprising the top six places in the Money League remain the same.
< br />"An unchanged top six emphasises the fact that these clubs have some of the largest fanbases and hence strongest revenues, in both domestic and international markets," Jones commented.

The Money League top 20 again comprises clubs from the big five European leagues, seven of which come from the English Premier League, while Italy have five teams in the top 20, and Germany four. Spain and France, meanwhile, have to settle for two representatives each.

"Its always interesting to see the disparity between the top two in Spain and the rest of the league. There are no other Spanish clubs in the top 20. A key change that would improve the overall state of finances in Spanish football would be a collective broadcast deal. It sounds like the Spanish government have put collective payments on the agenda on that level which, if it happens, can only help with the competitiveness of the division," Mark Roberts, Senior Consultant within the Sports Business Gro up at Deloitte, stated.

The top 10 consists of teams from only four leagues, as Ligue 1 sides Olympique de Marseille and Olympique Lyonnais sit only 16th and 17th respectively.

Manchester City (seventh) are this years joint highest climbers, along with Borussia Dortmund (11th) and Napoli (15th), moving up five places and claiming a top 10 position for the first time.

"Citys Premier League title winning season combined with participation in the Champions League, helped drive 51% revenue growth to 285.6m, the largest absolute and relative growth of any Money League club," Austin Houlihan, Senior Manager in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, said.

As pointed out before, the English Premier League has the most representatives, and this situation seems unlikely to change any time soon.

"The Premier League still has the most representatives in the top 20 of the list. Clubs will get another 20-30m from the new broadca sting deal so in the future there will be more English clubs challenging for those positions. The most there has been in the list is eight but I think we could be seeing as much of half of the list represented by the Premier League," Roberts pointed out.

Italy's future on the other hand seems far less rosy as their facilities generally don't match their reputation.

"The poor financial performance of Italian clubs goes back to their matchday revenues. Juventus have benefitted from their new stadium, which increased their matchday income by about 20m. For the Milan clubs and the Rome clubs, the stadia is a limiting factor on their revenue generation. They simply dont have the facilities and dont get the gates to compete with matchday incomes in other countries. Italy has gone to collective selling of broadcasting and that is a positive start in improving that," said Roberts.

The combined revenues of the worlds 20 highest earning football clubs have grown 10% on the previous year to reach 4.8bn in 2011-12.

"The combined revenues of the top 20 clubs have quadrupled since we began our analysis in 1996-97," Jones explained.

Whilst eight of the top 20 clubs experienced a drop in revenue in 2011-12, in most cases this was due to less successful on-pitch performances in European club competitions, rather than wider recessionary impacts.

"Combined, the 20 Money League clubs contribute over one-quarter of the total revenues of the European football market. The top 20 can be expected to generate over 5bn between them in 2012-13."

'Zenit need to up bid for Abate as AC Milan step up chase for Balotelli' - agent

Ignazio Abate could leave AC Milan if the defender's valuation is met as the Rossoneri are looking to free-up cash for Manchester City forward Mario Balotelli, according to the full-back's representative.

Zenit St Petersburg coach Luciano Spalleti is said to be interested Abate, who he knows from his time in Serie A when coaching Roma.

The defender's agent claims Spaletti has tabled an unsatisfactory offer for the 26-year-old, but hinted that a higher bid from Zenit may change things as the San Siro outfit seek to bring in Man City attacker Balotelli.

We thank Zenit and Spalletti for their interest, but the lad will remain in Italy with Milan, Claudio Pasqualin told Personal Press.

If Zenit raise their offer, then maybe something will change, considering Milan are looking for cash to take Mario Balotelli."

AC Milan are pushing for Europe in Serie A having risen to sixth place after a slow start t o the season.

Stade Rennais confirm sale of M'Vila to Rubin Kazan

Stade Rennais have confirmed they have agreed to sell Yann M'Vila to Rubin Kazan, with the deal set to be completed on Wednesday night.

The 22-year-old has been touted for a move away from the club for some time, with Premier League sides Tottenham and QPR thought to be at the front of a long list of admirers, before the Ligue 1 club made an announcement on their official website

"Stade Rennais FC, Rubin Kazan and Yann M'Vila have reached an agreement for the permanent transfer of the French international. After undergoing a medical, the Rennes midfielder will join the Russian club officially on Wednesday evening," the statement read.

Earlier, Rubin's vice-president Kamil Ishakov admitted the player was close to sealing a switch, but for the ironing out of the final details of the deal.

He told Sport-Express: "M'Vila attracts many European clubs. In England, clubs such as QPR, Fulham and Arsenal have, like Rubin, made concrete proposals.

"[But] Negotiations are currently in our favour. There are still some details, including the final results of the medical visit which takes place in Rome. Once the results are published, all will be decided. It is possible that he could sign the contract tonight."