Samuel Eto'o is confident that Anzhi Makhachkala have a good chance of winning their first Russian title, local media reported Tuesday, after the Dagestan club's recent forays in the transfer market.
"We are currently at the very beginning of the remarkable project called Anzhi Makhachkala," the gazeta.ru news site quoted the former Cameroon international as saying.
"We already managed to achieve some local success but I'm confident that Anzhi have tremendous opportunities for further progress."
Eto'o, 31, who joined Anzhi in 2011 in a 21-million-euro ($28.5 million) transfer, added that he was hopeful that Anzhi could clinch a success both in the UEFA Europa league and the Russian championship.
"There's nothing impossible in football," he was quoted as saying. "We should remain modest but keep on working and believe in what we're doing. If we get the chance to win the Russian league we'll never turn it down.
"It can become a remarkable event in the history of our club."
A title for Anzhi, who are currently second in the Russian league, would be a remarkable turnaround for the club, which was founded in 1991 but enjoyed little success until they were bought by oil and metal tycoon Suleiman Kerimov.
His financial backing allowed the club to pull off a series of big transfer deals, including Eto'o and Brazilian veteran Roberto Carlos, who is now sports director.
Last week Anzhi signed Brazilian midfielder Willian from Ukrainian champions Shakhtar Donetsk for 35 million euros -- the third biggest transfer in Russian league history.
The Russian top flight resumes on March 9 after the winter break but before that Anzhi meet Bundesliga outfit Hannover in the last 32 round of the Europa league.
Source: AFP
