Yuri Zhirkov, who will soon be officially presented as a Chelsea player, will have to prove he is worthy of the 25 million euro transfer fee paid for him, as his overall rating of 80.78 points remains relatively low for the English Premier League.

Zhirkov’s low rating could be explained in part by the fact that our system rates the English Premier League higher (category 5) than the Russian league (category 3).

The higher rating of the Premier League could help Zhirkov considerably boost his rating in the first 4 games, as his plank in those games will be relatively low. Zhirkov even stands the chance of overtaking Ghanaian star Michael Essien (96.4 points) as early as in the first game if the Blues win.