Chris Samba: Blackburn was asking for too much, no English club could afford me

Anzhi Makhachkala defender Christopher Samba, speaking to Sport-Express, claimed his former club Blackburn put a huge price tag on him so that no English club could afford to sign the Congo international.

«What convinced you to swap the Premiership for the Russian League?»

«I’ve played in the Premier League for six seasons, and thought time has come to change things. Blackburn’s targets did not correspond to my personal ambitions. At the same time, they raised my price so much no one in England was willing to sign me. Anzhi gave me a chance to have a new experience, and I took it.»

«Was there any financial incentive?»

«A player doesn’t move from one club to another for a lower wage, you know that. But there were many other factors involved. Anzhi are ambitious, they want to get into Europe, play in the Champions League – that has always been my dream.»

«There were rumours of Chelsea interest towards you as well…»

«No, at least I was not aware of it. But there were talks with Arsenal and Tottenham.»