Moroccan Mehdi Carcela to join Anzhi Makhachkala

Standard Liege winger Mehdi Carcela-Gonzalez has agreed a four-year contract with Anzhi Makhachkala of the Russian Premier League, the Belgian club said on Tuesday. The Belgian-born Moroccan, 22, flies to Rome later on Tuesday to pass medical tests before signing the deal, Standard said in a website statement. "An agreement was reached yesterday around midnight between Standard Liege and the Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala," the statement said. No financial details were given about the contract. If the transfer is confirmed, Carcela-Gonzalez will become the latest foreign star to join Anzhi, after Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o penned a three-year deal last week. Other big signings bankrolled by Anzhi's billionaire owner Suleiman Kerimov this season include former Chelsea wingback Yuri Zhirkov, Brazilians Diego Tardelli and Jucilei da Silva, Moroccan midfielder Moubarak Boussoufa and Hungarian winger Balazs Dzsudzsak. Eto'o scored on his Anzhi debut on Saturday, rescuing a draw against Rostov in the league. Carcela-Gonzalez has been with Standard Liege since aged 7, but over the last year has been seeking a new club, the website said. Carcela-Gonzalez has been recovering from a serious facial injury he suffered on the last day of the Belgian championship in May, when a kick in the face from Chris Mavinga of Genk left him unconscious with several fractures and broken teeth. "We wish him a speedy recovery so that he can definitely defend his new colors soon," Standard said in the statement.