Spartak Moscow chief Shamil Gazizov admits Chelsea counterpart Marina Granovskaia was key to landing Victor Moses.
Moses is currently on-loan at Spartak this season.
The Nigeria international had spent part of last season on-loan at Inter Milan. But he was left in limbo after Inter Milan failed to sanction his permanent move from Chelsea. The Italian club's owners Suning had decided against buying the wing-back outright.
Moses found himself back at Stamford Bridge, but had little chance of breaking into manager Frank Lampard's first team plans with Reece James and skipper Cesar Azpilicueta his settled right-back options.
As such, Chelsea sought to find him a new club and Gazizov admits Blues managing director Granovskaia made much of the running to close a loan arrangement for the wing-back.
Gazizov told Sport-Express: "Football people helped us make this transfer. But my communication with Granovskaia went directly. We discussed all the details with her. She helped us convince Moses.
"Many thanks to her, she played a big role here. She helped Spartak. And I thank her again for that. For us, everything worked out within the limits of the amounts that we pledged.
"The loan cost €300,000.
"The permanent option is €5m."
Indeed, Moses still has a contract with Chelsea to 2022. But should he impress, Spartak can now buy him outright. This season with Spartak, Moses has already managed five appearances, scoring once and also producing an assist.
- updated November 23
