Russia defender Zhirkov to join Zenit St. Petersburg

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian champions Zenit St. Petersburg have signed Dynamo Moscow defender Yuri Zhirkov, they said on their website on Tuesday. The 32-year-old Russian international will join Zenit on July 1 on a two-year contract. "The player will join Zenit as a free agent, unless the respective parties do not come to an agreement for him to join earlier," Zenit said. Zhirkov, who has won 67 caps for Russia, played the majority of his career at CSKA Moscow, helping them win the UEFA Cup in 2005. He joined Chelsea from 2009-11, winning the English Premier League title in 2010 before returning to Russia with Anzhi Makhachkala. Zenit are sixth in the Russian standings. (Reporting by Dmitriy Rogovitskiy, editing by Ed Osmond)