Work Permit for Arshavin

Andrei Arshavin - Arsenal Apply for Work Permit

According to RIAN in Russia, Arsenal got a U.K. work permit for Andrei Arshavin on Friday. It would appear therefore that the deal has finally been done. But there is still no confirmation from Arsenal.

According to Sky News Arsene Wegner has apparently said he expects the deal to be concluded in the next 24 hours. Russian sources expect an announcement from Arsenal within the "next few hours."

Sovetski Sport have said that Arshavin has agreed to repay Zenit St. Petersburg half of a $5 million bonus he was paid when he signed a four-year contract in 2006.

Arsenal are understood to have paid £ 15 million for Arshavin.

Maxim Mitrofanov, the Zenit director, said that Arshavin should also lower his wage demands to help the deal get signed.

Just about every club inEurope has been rumoured to be looking at Arshavin but so far only Arsenal and Spurs have showed a real concrete interest, which is a little surprising given the player's obvious talent. If it is true that Arsenal have signed him for £15 million they have got an extremely good player at a good price.

Arsenal and Zenit Agree Terms

Andrei Arshavin - Zenit and Arsenal Agree Terms for Arshavin Transfer

Zenit St Petersburg and Arsenal have finally reached a deal to sign Andrei Arshavin, although the transfer has not yet been finalized, as personal terms have stll to be agreed.

Zenit have not revealed how much Arsenal have agreed to pay saying only that it is the "real market value of the player".

Arshavin is now in discussions with Arsenal over personal terms but it seems unlikely Arsenal will break their current wage structure. There were reports that Arshavin was asking for £110,000 a week.

On Zenit's website the statement reads "The fundamental understanding over the transfer of the player has been achieved between the clubs. At the moment the basic obstacle in realising the transaction is Andrei Arshavin's personal requirements."

Or if you prefer it in Russian "Переговоры между ФК «Зенит» и лондонским «Арсеналом» о трансфере Андрея Аршавина продолжаются. Между клубами достигнута принципиальная договоренность о переходе игрока на условиях устраивающих обе стороны и соответствующих реальной рыночной стоимости футболиста."

It is unlikely that Arshavin will not agree personal terms with Arsenal, so this is excellent news for both Arsenal and Arshavin and also English football. According to Dick Advocaat the deal should be finalized on Tuesday.

Arsenal Close to Signing Arshavin?

Andrei Arshavin - Arsenal Close to Signing Arshavin?

Will they won't they? Arshavin seems willing to sign for Arsenal. Arsenal seem willing to sign Arshavin as long as the price is right. The only people still holding out are the Zenit St Petersburg board who appear to be split.

The problem for Zenit is that a) Arshavin wants to go and has said so and is hardly playing at his best for Zenit, b) he could buy himself out of his contract at the end of the season for £5 million and c) as far as anyone knows Arsenal are the only club who have actually made an offer for Arshavin. Mancheser City apparently said yesterday they were not interested in Arshavin. So if Zenit don't make a decision they will be stuck with a player who wants to go and will get no money for him.

Arsenal are said to have made a final offer of £15 million and Zenit appear to have reduced their asking price from £20 million to £16 million so if all this is true and with a difference of only £1 million then the transfer now looks a distinct possibility. But let's face it we're just guessing really.

Inter Milan Interested in Arshavin?

Andrei Arshavin - Now Inter Milan Want a Piece of the Action

Arshavin to Inter Milan?

The Andrei Arshavin transfer saga has taken another twist with reports that Inter Milan may be interested in him, which would of course prevent Arsenal from signing him. It is well-known that there is no love lost between Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger, who Mourinho once famously described as a "voyeur".

Arsenal are reported to have increased their initial offer of €11 million to around €13.5 million plus a further €6 million based on appearances and results.

However, The Daily Star is reporting that Zenit St. Petersburg want €27.5 million, a long way off what Arsene Wenger is willing to pay.

The claim is that Inter Milan are ready to pay around €16.5 million and if Adriano is going to Tottenham then Mourinho has said he will need another striker, but with Drogba unhappy at Chelsea there is a distinct possibility that he would like to join his old boss at Inter Milan. However, €16.5 million can hardly be called an improvement on the €13.5 plus €6 million being offered by Arsenal.

Another sticking point appears to be that Arshavin's agent, Dennis Lachter, wants €5.5 million of any fee paid to Zenit.

Manchester City were said to be interested in Arshavin but it now appears their prime target is Kaka from AC Milan for whom they appear willing to pay £100 million, which is more than double the previous record of £46 million for Zidane. If they did sign Kaka of course, perhaps Arshavin would be more enthusiastic about a move to Manchester. But it is also likely that if City pay £100 million for Kaka then Zenit would probably increase the price they want for Arshavin.

I was leaning towards Arshavin signing for Manchester City, but with today's development I now think Arsenal are more likely to sign him, as I am not taking the Inter Milan rumour too seriously.

Arshavin Says Nyet to UAE

Andrei Arshavin - On Strike?

Andrei Arshavin is reported to have refused to go to the UAE to join Zenit St Petersburg at its pre-season training camp. Sovetski Sport said on Tuesday "The St. Petersburg forward called the trainer and said that he would not go to the first pre-season camp in the UAE if he was not sold to a foreign club."

He had hinted earlier on in the season that he would go on strike if necessary.

(.....Arshavin Photo by Simone)

It appears also that Arshavin would actually prefer to play for Arsenal after all. At least that's what some people are reading between the lines.

Arshavin is quoted in the Daily Telegraph as saying: "In some games last season, we played football which was very similar to that of Arsenal."

He then added: "I would prefer my present Number 10 but in the team where I hope to move it's not vacant. So I'm ready for any number they are going to offer me."

This is taken to mean that he wants to go to Arsenal and would have preferred to wear number 10 but that is currently occupied by William Gallas.

Personaly to me this doesn't make a lot of sense, as presumably other teams have players occupying number 10 shirts too?

Zenit St Petersburg still maintain that they are negotiating with ‘a number of English clubs’ over Arshavin, but so far there does not appear to have been any official bid other than the £10 million bid made by Arsenal which was rejected.

Zenit’s head of media, Alexey Petrov, has confirmed however that talks are continuing with Arsenal. “From Manchester City no documents have been reported in our club,” Petrov said.

“Negotiations with Arsenal are not finished, they are continuing, but you cannot say there is anything definite.”

On another note Andrei Arshavin was voted the 11th best player in the world by FIFA last night. which, even if it is not one of the top 3 is still pretty good.

Andrei Arshavin to Man City

Andrei Arshavin - Man City Up the Stakes for Arshavin

Andrei Arshavin is still under contract to Zenit Saint Petersburg, which has apparently turned down Arsenal's offer of 22 million euros (around 19.5 million GBP). This is quite astonishing if it is true. First I'm amazed that Arsenal would offer such a high amount and second I'm amazed that Zenit would turn it down. Except of course that nothing amazes anyone any more with this transfer saga.

It now seems that Manchester City, Real Madrid and Juventus are back in the hunt, unless of course no-one is in the hunt and this is just a ploy to increase the price for Arshavin.
According to the Russian News and Information Agency (RIAN), based on a report in the Sunday Mirror, Manchester City are close to signing Arshavin for $27.4 million (around 18 million GBP which the more observant amongst us will notice is less than Zenit are supposed to have turned down from Arsenal! - is that credible?).

According to the RIAN Arsenal had a $15 million bid turned down (10 million GBP). Arshavin's agent, Dennis Lachter, is now saying that a move to the Gunners is unlikely, after saying it was likely last week.

Manchester City, as everyone in the UK knows, have more money than sense, thanks to the massive wealth of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Arshavin's wage demands and Zenit's insistence on a lump sum would not be a problem - in fact Manchester City might even enjoy flashing the cash just to annoy everyone else.

Manchester City, signed Brazilian star Robinho for $59 million in August, and UK star Wayne Bridge for $20.5 million.

The Sunday Mirror reports that Manchester City met both Zenit officials and the player.

According to the Daily Mail, Arsenal put in a bid of 13.5 million euros plus 6 million euros in unspecified 'add-ons'

Alexei Petrov from Zenit said "I can confirm that Zenit did get an official offer from Arsenal about Andrei Arshavin. It was rejected as insufficient. They offered about £10m. No new offers have arrived from them since. At the moment, Arsenal are the only club to have approached us about the player."

So in conclusion it seems that Man City are ready to pay £18 million plus Arshavin's wages of around £85,000 (i.e. 4.4 million a year - or £2,100 an hour - and yes I do think footballers' wages are outrageous and ridiculous - but if that's what people are willing to pay then so be it) which I suspect is more than Arsenal are willing to fork out, so it would seem that Man City are the favourites at the moment (until we hear that Juventus have offered 35 million euros and Real Madrid have upped that to 40 million of course). Personally I think Arshavin would be better off at Arsenal if he wants to win trophies, but if he wants more money then he is better off at Man City.

Arshavin to Arsenal ?

Andrei Arshavin - Stop Press Arshavin Talking to Arsenal

STOP PRESS : After writing the post below I just read the following on the Daily Mirror site :-

"Andrei Arshavin was last night on the verge of signing for Arsenal in a cut-price £10million deal. [He] arrived for talks with Gunners chiefs at London’s Landmark hotel with his wife Yulia at lunchtime yesterday."

(............... Picture of Andrei Arshavin by Nikola)

I have been following the Andrei Arshavin saga since he first started looking for a move from Zenit St Petersburg during Euro 2008. His name has been linked with about 20 different European teams, including Spurs, Man Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool, Everton, Man City, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Aston Villa, Marseille, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Roma, Juventus and now most recently and most persistently Arsenal.

A couple of weeks ago Arshavin was in London 'on business'. He is said to have visited both Arsenal and Spurs, but at the same time it is claimed that he didn't visit either and that he was in London for an advertising campaign.

His agent Dennis Lachter, however, has claimed that negotiations are underway but there is still a long way to go. It is also claimed that Spurs were no longer interested in taking the negotiations further - Juande Ramos it appears was interested but Harry Redknapp is not so keen.

According to the Independent, Arshavin's wages are already around £70,000 (a week not a year, in case you have been asleep for the last 20 years), and this is at the high-end of Premier League wages.

There are also rumours that Arshavin has been asking Arsenal to break its wage structure - which I would guess Arsenal will not do. The transfer fee is also a sticking point, this summer Zenit wanted £24 million (at least) which no-one was willing to pay, now it appears they want £20 million but Arsenal are offering £12 million. This is further complicated by the fact that Arshavin can buy out his contract at the end of this season for £5 million, which clearly Zenit do not want him to do.

There is also the problem of the Champions League, Arshavin will not be eligible to play in it. Interestingly Arsene Wenger this week said he was looking for a player for the long-term not for this year's Champions League.

Zenit are getting desperate to sell him, but they would probably have been better off accepting a reasonable offer this summer.

Zenit's manager, Dick Advocaat, has already said that Arshavin would leave in January. "I am aware that Arsenal are interested but I don't know any more than that. However, I am expecting Arshavin to leave Zenit for another club. He is a top player and he could play for any team and any of the top teams in England, Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea or Liverpool. "

"He was voted player of the year by the sportswriters last season – and we know they know everything! Arshavin played well for us last season but he didn't play as well as he can. There is still more to come from him."

Arshavin is a highly talented player but just where he will end up is anybody's guess. At the moment Arsenal are being touted as the favourites, but quite frankly we've heard it all before and Arsene Wenger is a shrewd operator who is not known for signing 28 year olds. But he is known for getting good players at good prices and he certainly hasn't ruled out the possibility of signing Arshavin.

I wrote all this before seeing the Daily Mirror article. It would appear that Arsenal might sign Arshavin for £10 million, which would be a great deal - we shall see.