Zenit St. Petersburg coach Luciano Spalletti says he is confident of buying another player before the Champions League closes registration Tuesday, adding to speculation the club may be close to signing a transfer target in Nani or Hulk.
Spalletti has previously confirmed the club’s interest in Manchester United midfielder Nani and Porto striker Hulk, while Zenit have yet to make a major signing this summer.
German Bundesliga side Schalke’s general manager Horst Heldt has reportedly confirmed receiving a transfer bid from Zenit for Greek defender Kyriakos Papadopoulos.
“I believe in our club, everyone’s working very seriously. I think that a situation in which we don’t buy anyone for the Champions League won’t happen,” Spalletti said, before sounding a note of caution on players’ salary demands.
“If the demands of a player are excessive, then we turn our attention to other players.”
When asked about reports that Hulk is close to signing for Zenit, Spalletti said he knew nothing about that, but did not issue an outright denial.
“I don’t know anything about that,” he said.
Under former Roma coach Spalletti, Zenit have won the last two Russian titles and reached the knockout stages of the Champions League for the first time last season, eventually losing to Portugal’s Benfica.
Zenit’s next game is away to minnows Mordovia Saransk in the Russian Premier League on Friday.
