Thursday 29 October 2015 16:01, UK
Zenit St Petersburg manager Andre Villas-Boas has denied speculation he's lining up a move for Chelsea loanee Radamel Falcao.
The Blues forward has managed one goal in 200 minutes of action for Jose Mourinho's side and reports had claimed Villas-Boas was planning to offer the Colombia international an escape route in January.
Under the terms of Chelsea's agreement with Monaco, the Ligue 1 club would have to agree to cancel the Chelsea deal first, but Villas-Boas says a move is unlikely.
"No, I haven't had a conversation with Jose [Mourinho], the player belongs to Chelsea, on loan from Monaco," he told Zenit's official website. "It's difficult to bring such a player to Russia with the rules and regulations we have."
Russian clubs can only play six foreign players at one time following a change in the Russian Football Union regulations in July. The previous maximum had been seven, and Zenit currently have eight non-Russian first-team players.
"We tried to bring him here in the summer at the start of the season, but then the rules changed a week before the season started," Villas-Boas continued.
"We can't bring him here because of the rules and we don't have space."
Villas-Boas is happy with his current options despite the fact Zenit sit third in the Russian Premier League behind CSKA Moscow and Lokomotiv Moscow, and the manager also has concerns over Falcao's salary demands.
"We have [Artyom] Dzyuba, he scored two goals, his form is great for the club and the national team and he deserves respect.
"Due to the limitations we can't bring Falcao here, his salary is immense too and the financial rules in place prevent this, this is the rule chosen by Mr Mutko [Russia's sports minister] and so this is impossible."
