In January 2011, Anzhi Makhachkala was purchased by billionaire Suleyman Kerimov,[2][3] and subsequently made numerous high-profile signings, including those of striker Samuel Eto'o and defender Roberto Carlos.

The club was founded in 1991 by former Dinamo Makhachkala player Aleksandr Markarov with the head of Dagnefteprodukt – Magomed-Sultan Magomedov and took part in its first season in the Dagestan League the same year.

[5] Due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the club entered Zone 1 of the Russian Second Division (the third-highest tier) in 1992[5] and finished in fifth place.

[5] A key player in Anzhi's early history was Azerbaijani international forward Ibragim Gasanbekov, who was the team's top scorer in all of their first seven seasons.

[5] The side missed out on a bronze-medal finish on the last day of the season, as they conceded a last-minute Torpedo Moscow penalty which took their opponents into third place.

[7] On 20 June 2001, the club played in the final of the Russian Cup for the first time, losing to Lokomotiv Moscow on penalties after a 1–1 draw.

[5] Anzhi finished 15th and were relegated from the Premier League in 2002, but during their first season back in the First Division, they reached the semi-finals of the Russian Cup, where they lost 1–0 to Rostov.

[11] Kerimov was planning to invest over $200 million in infrastructure, of which a substantial amount would go into building a new stadium with a capacity of more than 40,000 spectators, which would meet all UEFA requirements.

The first significant signing came on 16 February, when the club announced the free transfer of Brazilian left-back and 2002 FIFA World Cup winner Roberto Carlos from Corinthians.

[23] In September 2011, Gadzhi Gadzhiyev was sacked, after managing only one win in the last six matches, leaving the club seventh in the league table.

However, they suffered a downturn in form after the new year, winning only three times in their final twelve matches, including a 4–0 defeat against Krasnodar in March.

[38][39] As a result, on 15 August 2013, Yuri Zhirkov, Igor Denisov, and Aleksandr Kokorin were packaged to Dynamo Moscow for an undisclosed fee.

[citation needed] Remchukov said that the reason for the move was the "sharp deterioration in the health of Suleyman Kerimov, because of worries about the club's lack of success".

The budget cuts and subsequent sales resulted in Anzhi performing very poorly in the 2013–14 Russian Premier League: they finished last and were relegated, having amassed a record low of three wins and 20 points, making them the worst last-placed team in Europe.

Yuri Semin was announced as Anzhi's manager on 18 June 2015, signing a one-year contract with the option of an additional year.

[49] After Semin's departure, Ruslan Agalarov was placed in charge of the club,[50] until the end of the season, saving them from relegation with a play-off victory over Volgar Astrakhan.

Anzhi struggled again during the 2018–19 season, and following a 0–1 defeat to Arsenal Tula, their relegation back to the Russian Football National League was confirmed.

They had an option of applying for the third-tier Russian Professional Football League license or potentially declaring bankruptcy.

[59] On 26 June 2019, Anzhi confirmed that they had received a license to play in the Russian Professional Football League for the 2019–20 season, and that they were still unable to register new players due to outstanding debts.

Instead of usual home-and-away fixtures, UEFA decided to hold a single match in a neutral venue—the Polish Army Stadium in Warsaw—due to the unstable situation in neighbouring Chechnya.

They then faced Newcastle United in the next round, where Alan Pardew's men became the first team to deny Anzhi a home win in European competition.

In the second leg away at St James' Park, Newcastle's Papiss Cissé headed home the winner in the last second to eliminate Anzhi; Mehdi Carcela-González had earlier been sent off for the club.