AS.com

Zenit St Petersburg have been watching Real Madrid Castilla's Russian forward Denis Cheryshev closely, with a view of bringing him back to his country of birth.

According to the Russian newspaper 'Izvestia', Zenit's Italian coach Luciano Spalletti has taken notice of the 22-year-old's performances and has made a personal request that Zenit sign him.

The newspaper claims that a meeting has been arranged between the player's father, Dimitry Cheryshev, who used to play for Sporting Gijón, and representatives from Zenit, who are ready to offer him a far superior contract to the one he currently has with Madrid.

Dimitry Cheryshev has acknowledged that the club are interested in signing his son but denied that a meeting had been arranged.

"Zenit are among the elite of world football and are a prestigious and strong club that are always challenging for trophies. I have heard that they are interested in Denis, but I have to say we have not had any meetings. We are flattered by the interest, but there has been no concrete offer.

However, he added that he and his son would be willing to accept an offer if one was made.

"We're going to wait and see. If we have conversations with them and we receive an offer, we will examine it. It is an honour for us that a club as big as Zenit are interested and we will make a decision based on what Denis wants. As his father, I can only give him advice."

Zenit's interest in Denis comes after the player was called up to the Russian national side by Fabio Capello for the first time. Another club believed to be interested in signing him is Premier League side Reading, as reported by the English press in September.