Spartak Moscow and the footballer himself have refused to comment on the issue until the official announcement is made.

Bystrov was born in the city of Luga, some 150 kilometers from St Petersburg. He started his career at Zenit in 2001, scoring 6 goals in 74 matches for the club. The winger then moved to Spartak in 2005. He’s made 98 appearances for the Red-and-Whites, delivering 17 goals.

He has very tense relations with Zenit fans, who still consider his transfer to their arch rivals from Moscow a betrayal.

The winger has been capped for Russian 24 times, scoring 4 goals. Bystrov was in Guus Hiddink’s resurgent Russian squad who reached the semis at Euro 2008, but appeared on the pitch just once during the tournament.

The loss of Bystrov is a serious blow for Spartak, who are battling for Russia’s Premier League championship, and are getting ready to face their main rivals Rubin Kazan on weekend.

Reports in the British media claimed English Premier League side Everton also wanted to see Bystrov on their team and were ready to pay £9 million for him, but Spartak refused to let him go. The Toffees ended up buying another Russian international, Dinyar Bilyaletdinov, from Lokomotiv Moscow.

Shevchenko to power Zenit?

Zenit are in desperate search for players able to strengthen the team as they have been losing their biggest stars during the last year, with Andrey Arshavin joining Arsenal, Anatoly Timoschuk to Bayern Munich and Pavel Pogrebnyak heading for Stuttgart.

The Mirror newspaper claims Zenit have put an eye on Chelsea striker Andrey Shevchenko. The Ukrainian star expressed desire to leave the Londoners after he wasn’t included in the team’s Champions League lineup.

Shevchenko was one of the biggest names in the Italian Serie A in the beginning of the 2000s, scoring 127 goals in 208 games for AC Milan. But his move to Chelsea in 2006 was unsuccessful.

The player’s former club, Dinamo Kiev, also want the 33-year-old back, claiming they are ready to offer him a head coach position in a couple of years.

According to Russian newspapers, the St Petersburg team are also in talks to purchase another Russian international – Dinamo Moscow’s Aleksandr Kerzhkov.

The striker scored 64 goals for Zenit from 2001 to 2005, being the hero for the local fans. He then moved to Sevilla, winning the UEFA Cup and Spanish Cup before making his return to Russia and signing with Dinamo in 2008.