Russia captain shown the door at Spartak

Russia captain Roman Shirokov has been told his contract at Spartak Moscow will not be extended, according to Izvestia.

The 34-year-old has a deal until July 2016, but there is a clause stipulating that the contract will be automatically extended for another season if the midfielder spends 46 minutes or more in at least 15 games over the course of the campaign.

With Shirokov already starting 14 matches this term, everybody expected the deal would be extended, but coach Dmitry Alenichev has informed the highly rated footballer that he cannot expect to spend more than 45 minutes per game on the pitch between now and the end of the season due to the fact that the club chiefs do not want his deal to be prolonged.

This comes as a huge surprise considering that Shirokov is the captain of the Russia national team and one of its most important players, and it was he who scored the only goal in recent friendly win over Portugal.