Well it seems he is gonna sign with Zenit after all.
And while I'm not neutral in this one being Zenit fan, there seems to be some misunderstanding regarding league quality and Zenit quality.
First of all, Russian League is NOT weaker than Portuguese one. It is definitely lacks in price\performance ratio though :)
And although Alves has made his decision because of big salary (Zenit pays top wages even on Russian league scale), you can't ignore the fact that club is ambitious, is on top of Russian Premier League currently halfway through season, has on of Europe's top coaches (Luciano Spaletti) and unlimited amount of cash. And we also have Danny and Meira in squad, so he won't feel lonely and isolated after the move.

And the most important thing - no top club would pay 23 million EURO for him (maybe Man City would, but they don't need another defender :)

Although i would never try to argue that Zenit is a bigger club than FC Porto in terms of support, stature or prestige. I can understand why Alves and FC Porto would be attracted to this deal.

First of all the money. Its an obvious place to start, Alves can earn 2 or 3 times what he earns at Porto, basically more money than he can ever dream of at Porto.

Football is an extremely short career, I don't blame Alves for taking the money (most people would). What people are forgetting is that FC Porto need the money just as much as Bruno Alves. Porto have a policy of selling off at least "one of their treasures" to a more financially capable opponent. Last year it was Cissoko, Lopez and Lucho Goncalez, this year it looks to be Bruno Alves. I'm sure Porto would rather sell off Bruno Alves (nonetheless a great player) than say a cash-cow like Falcao. We must'nt forget that FC Porto do need the money (perhaps more so than Bruno Alves).

Secondly, although the Russian league is slightly removed from the other european leagues, it certainly does'nt mean it's a weak league. If anything it looks to be getting stronger and more powerful every year, judging by Russian sides performances in the Champions League/Europa League over the past 4 to 5 years.
There is no question that the Russian league is stronger than the Portuguese Supaliga at the moment (and the difference in quality between the two leagues will only grow, as long as millions upon millions are pumped into the Russian game) , so therefore if the league is stronger, the competition will be stronger, thus Bruno Alves will be playing at a higher level.

For those people that suggest, that Bruno Alves should have waited for a "big powerhouse" of Europe, let me just say this. Bruno Alves will be 29 years of age in little more than 3 months time. He has been twice voted "player of the year" in the Portuguese Supaliga, he has starred heavily in 4 Champions League campaigns with Porto (not to mention won 4 Supaliga Campeonato's), and to top all of that he played in every single game involving Portugal at the World Cup, including against Brasil and eventual winners Spain. He can't get much more high profile than that. We can safely say that Bruno Alves has been in the shop window. The so called "big teams" of Europe (for some reason, i cant think why) don't fancy him or at least not that price. The truth is clubs like all businesses are feeling the pinch, only a handful can go out and spend $30million on a central defender.

In short, although not perfect (he will be a sad miss to the Supaliga), i think that this is a good deal for Bruno Alves. Good luck to him.

Thanks for reading :)

Humberto

C'mon people get your act together.....First he isn't going to Russia anytime soon. Clearly tring to extract max $$$ out of Porto as possible. He's staying. Secondly, David Luiz is not going anywhere either, and Chelsea never made an offer of 32M Euros for him. Foolish reported rumors during times of transfer blues. Both will remain with their respective Portuguese sides.

This is a step down for everyone that I stated above. I am surprised let go of who I think was the heart and soul of that team. I mean it's good for us Benfiquistas because now I think porto will be weak in the back four.
I am surprised he wouldn't go to a big team in La Liga, EPL, or Serie A... It must be the $$$ plus a guarenteed spot on the field instead of coming in as a sub if he had gone to a bigger club or league to play.
Hopefully he improves for portugal's sake, we need him!!

i am getting sick of this guy and his rumous JUST LEAVE!

only 1 reason why he would go to russia.....$$$$$$$.
weaker league, weaker team, weaker oppenents, weaker coaching.
Alves is selling out, his form will diminish over the next couple years.

I hope these are the same 'reports' that had Pavlyuchenko joining Sporting on loan.

Nooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!