SKA KHABAROVSK

The new name in the Russian top flight next season will provide a big boost to travel agents – if not rival fans, who will have to travel some 6,000 kilometres east to Khabarovsk, which is just a few miles from the Chinese border. The flight time is almost eight hours from Moscow, with a time difference of seven hours.

The nature of SKA’s promotion – a 5-3 penalty shoot-out victory over Orenburg in a promotion-relegation play-off, after 0-0 draws in both home and away legs – does not suggest they will win over many neutral fans in their debut Premier League season.

However, they are not short of eye-catching talent, such as Argentinian striker Juan Eduardo Lescano, who was once on the books of Real Madrid.