Zico stopped me bringing Zhirkov to Chelsea, says sacked boss Scolari

Luiz Felipe Scolari says he would have taken Yuri Zhirkov to Chelsea in January - but pulled out of the deal as a favour to Brazil legend Zico. Guus Hiddink, the Russia manager who was the interim boss at Stamford Bridge for the second half of last season, is wrongly credited as the man who highlighted the winger to his temporary employers. But Sportsmail revealed in January that the Blues were ready to sign Zhirkov from CSKA Moscow after selling Wayne Bridge to Manchester City. Scolari has now confirmed the pursuit and says he held off because Zico, who had then only just been appointed the manager of the Russian club, was desperate not to offload his star player. 'I wanted to buy Zhirkov,' admitted Scolari. 'It is me who looked at him for Chelsea and the only reason he didn't move to London in the winter is because Zico asked me to very much leave Zhirkov at CSKA till the summer. Read how Sportsmail revealed Chelsea's interest in  Zhirkov earlier this year'Now that Zhirkov has still come to Chelsea, I have no doubt that he will be one of the team's star players. 'I know the player, because I talked about him a lot with Paulo Paixao (the Brazilian who was then fitness coach of CSKA). 'I always liked that Zhirkov can play equally well in the centre and on the flank. It is also important that he will still progress.' 

Source: Daily_Mail