MOSCOW, August 3 (RIA Novosti) - New VfB Stuttgart forward Pavel Pogrebnyak is preparing to make his Bundesliga debut on Friday less than a week after signing from Zenit St. Petersburg.
Russian international Pogrebnyak, 25, joined Stuttgart on August 1, signing a three-year contract for an undisclosed sum.
"When you leave for another country and another championship, it's natural to feel nerves. But, as everyone knows, I'm not the first to leave Russia from Zenit. I'll test myself at a new level," he told Sport Express.
Pogrebnyak scored 23 goals in 59 appearances for Zenit, and was also the joint top scorer with 10 in the 2007/08 UEFA Cup. However, he missed both Zenit's 2-0 final victory over Glasgow Rangers and Russia's Euro 2008 campaign through injury.
He is the third Zenit footballer to leave for a foreign club this year, with Andrei Arshavin signing for Arsenal in February and captain Anatoliy Tymoshchuk joining Bayern Munich this summer.
"I've spoken to Tymoshchuk on the telephone. It's funny - we might meet on the pitch on opposing sides soon," Pogrebnyak said.
The striker, who has scored five goals in 14 international appearances, also revealed that the deal to take him to Germany went through quickly, with none of the tortured negotiations that dogged Arshavin's move to Arsenal.
"Real, concrete talks lasted three days," he said. "Stuttgart really wanted to see me in their ranks, and Zenit weren't against letting me go."
Pogrebnyak's Zenit contract was due to expire at the end of the year.
Stuttgart kick off the 2009/10 Bundesliga season with an away match to VfL Wolfsburg on Friday. The club, which finished third in Germany last year, are also due to enter the Champions League from the playoff round, meaning Pogrebnyak could make a quick return to Russia to play Dynamo Moscow.
Dynamo face Celtic in the Russian capital on Wednesday in a second-leg third qualifying round tie. The Muscovites lead 1-0 after the first leg and will face one of Arsenal, Lyon, Stuttgart, Fiorentina or Atletico Madrid if they progress.
