Zenit St Petersburg may be handily poised to win the Russian Premier League but that wasn’t enough for the club owners who fired manager Luciano Spalletti earlier this week. The RPL giants currently sit in second place, two points behind the leaders Lokomotiv but a 0-0 home draw against relegation threatened Tom Tomsk saw patience snap and the Italian out of a job.
One significant part of that development centres around the future of Zenit’s Brazilian striker Hulk whose wages sparked unrest amongst his new team mates when he arrived from Porto at the beginning of 2012. Spalletti remained a big ally during the disruption but the manager’s departure has already led to a spate of rumours linking the striker with a move to the Premier League.
During his time in Russia, the forward has maintained his record of scoring in every other game and while Spurs are obviously going to be linked, there is the issue of excessive wage demands.
Perhaps more interesting is the sudden availability of Spalletti. This is a man who has won four major honours in Russia and three in Italy with former club Roma. The 55 year old has yet to be widely mentioned in terms of a switch to White Hart Lane but there will be considerably less plausible names linked between now and the start of next season.
Nice twist on the story, you are to be commended on your artistic licence