We were linked to him but as you said, he went to CSKA.
Although the fee was never made public, I can only assume that it was big money, much more than we could afford.... and CSKA are never short of $$$
And if your a club like Venlo, money talks, and your best player goes to the club offering the largest sum of money.
CSKA got one hell of a side too, hows this for attacking options:
Milos Krasic - although he's off to Juve shortly.
Keisuke Honda
Alan Dzagoev
Vagner Love
Mark Gonzalez
Zoran Tosic
Vasili Berezutski