He has not started a game for his country since September 2010, and in a Russian-language interview with the Uefa website, he talked about how hard he had found it to settle in England.
“There was a whole set of circumstances against me,” he said. “It is not so easy to be a foreign player in England. They must meet certain requirements. What is forgiven locals is not for foreigners.
“But on the whole I am satisfied with the English stage of my career. I got invaluable experience from playing in the Premier League. And off the pitch, there were positives: during this time I learnt the language, got married, met many interesting people.”
Bilyaletdinov’s criticisms were echoed by his father, who said the player’s creativeness had “stagnated” like Mikel Arteta’s, as a result of David Moyes’s negative style. “If he [Moyes] had got more out of his defensive players, then his creative players wouldn’t have dropped off so much in recent years,” Rinat Bilyaletdinov said on Tuesday.
The player’s Everton team-mate Tim Cahill wished him well on Twitter on Wednesday, writing: “Good luck my friend, was great to have you at the Blues. All the best to you and your family.”
Rangers have priced Nikica Jelavic out of a move to Goodison Park by placing a £10 million valuation on the striker.
Moyes has watched the Croatian several times and will have money to spend once Bilyaletdinov completes his move. Rangers have already rejected a £6 million bid from West Ham for Jelavic.
Everton are also ready to pounce if Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha’s proposed £3 million move to Queens Park Rangers continues to stall.