SPORTS
Messi or Ronaldo, or even both! Carlos sets Anzhi transfer aims
Baku, March 15 (AZERTAC). Big-spending Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala show no signs of taming their appetite. But now it seems they are hitching their wagon too high to a star or rather two football megastars - Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
The team`s former captain Roberto Carlos, who has recently hung up his boots but remained in the club`s structure, claims Anzhi Makhachkala could try to lure Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi to Dagestan when the pair finish their contracts at Real Madrid and Barcelona.
"We can try when they`ve completed their contracts here," the former left back told Radio Marca.
Carlos is not picky, though, and if the club manage to sign only one of the duo, he would be satisfied.
"Leo is currently the world`s best player; Cristiano is the reference point of Madrid; and I have no preference for either," he said.
Both stars have long-term contracts with their clubs, while Messi has many times stressed he wants to finish his playing career in Barcelona, the team he has been always associated with.
But one thing is certain - money is no object for the wealthy Russian Premier League side. The club`s billionaire owner Suleyman Kerimov has appointed Guus Hiddink as the new coach, further adding to the wage bill. Strengthened by Samuel Eto`o, Yury Zhirkov and Christopher Samba, Anzhi are currently trying to establish themselves as one of Europe`s biggest sides. And they do well domestically, with ten games left in the Russian Premier League they sit just three points off a Champions League berth.