Valencia are closing in on a deal to re-sign midfielder Denis Cheryshev from Villarreal, according to Diario AS.
The 27-year-old scored three goals in eight appearances at the Mestalla in a temporary loan stint in the 2015-16 campaign and also played under Marcelino Garcia Toral at the Yellow Submarine.
The report states the Coach is insistent in bringing the midfielder back to Los Che and the two clubs are in negotiations over the transfer. Cheryshev impressed for Russia during this summer’s World Cup, helping the host nation reach the quarter-final stage and eliminate Spain in the Round of 16.
Prior to making his international debut with Russia, Cheryshev was also eligible to represent Spain as he held dual nationality. In a 2011 interview with Marca he indicated that he felt more Spanish than Russian, but accepted a call up to the Russian team in November 2012.
He made his debut eight days later in a 2–2 friendly draw with the United States, the same opposition his father Dmitri had played against 20 years earlier.
Cheryshev played his first competitive game on 14 August 2013, when he came on as a half-time substitute in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Northern Ireland in Belfast. However, after just five minutes on the pitch, he had to be replaced due to injury, in an eventual 0–1 loss; he was called up to a provisional 25-man squad for the finals on 16 May 2014, being the only player present not playing his club football in Russia.
He was, however, left out of Fabio Capello’s final list and also later missed the UEFA Euro 2016 tournament due to injury.
After an absence of more than two years, Cheryshev appeared for the national team again on 27 March 2018 in a friendly with France.On 11 May, he was included in an extended squad for that year’s World Cup, also being named as one of the final 23 players. He made his debut in the competition on 14 June, replacing the injured Alan Dzagoev midway through the first half of the group stage opener against Saudi Arabia in Moscow and scoring twice in a 5–0 win. He scored his third goal in the tournament against Egypt in a 3–1 victory,adding another in the quarter-finals when he curled a strike past Croatia’s Danijel Subašić from just outside the 18-yard area to open the scoring, but in an eventual 3–4 penalty shoot-out loss.