The Russian defender urges Zenit St. Petersburg to fill the void left by the Portuguese midfielder during the winter transfer window.
Zenit St. Petersburg fans have been dealt with a blow with reports suggesting that Danny Miguel has been ruled out for the upcoming UEFA Champions League clash against SL Benfica after sustaining a knee injury during routine work
out.
Danny has now joined Aleksandr Bukharov (groin) and Roman Shirokov (muscle strain) on the injury list, while Viktor Fayzulin and Vyacheslav Malafeev are on road to recovery after their respective injuries.
The former Zenit Leningrad defender, Sergei Vedeneyev,
has tipped the Russian outfit to find Miguel’s replacement if they are to better the Eagles at home. The first leg of the round-of-16 tie is scheduled for February 15, 2012, at Petrovsky stadium.
Benfica are enjoying a promising European campaign, as they are yet to lose a European encounter this term They outplayed Manchester United and FC Otelul during the group stages to reach the pre-quarter-finals.
Vedeneyev revealed that Zenit need to sign quality players and identified Ari, Andriy Voronin and Seydou Doumbia from Spartak Moscow, Dynamo Moscow and CSKA Moscow, respectively.
He went on to admit that the St. Petersburg club are lacking decent back-up which could cost them a place in the Champions League’s quarter-finals.
“If you look at the championship of Russia, it is possible to find universal attacking players who could replace Danny - Doumbia, Voronin and Ari could be better options at the moment but I doubt whether such options should be
available this term because no club would like to sell a star player to their direct competitors.” The Soviet Top League winner was quoted as saying.
“Perhaps Spalletti will change his line of attack without Danny. The Portuguese player has been very useful and effective. They need to find his replacement because it is difficult to replace him with an existing member of the
squad.” Vedeneyev said
Speaking on Zenit's composition, Vedeneyev revealed that the Russian outfit has immense talent irrespective of the injured players.