Israel Saria
Arshavin starred for Russia with some fine displays during Euro 2008
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Arsenal have completed the transfer of Andrei Arshavin from Zenit St Petersburg for an undisclosed fee.
The completion of the move comes after extended negotiations between the two clubs that stretched beyond the closure of the transfer window on Monday.
The Russian international travelled to London to formalise ersonal terms prior to the deadline
Andrei Arshavin has said he believes he is an Arsenal player, with the outcome of his proposed transfer to the Gunners set to finally be revealed on Tuesday.
The playmaker told his personal website that negotiations over his move from Zenit St Petersburg “came to a close”.
“Now I can say only one thing – that if I play for Arsenal, it will be at number 23,” said the 27-year-old.
It is believed all the relevant documentation is with the Premier League but has yet to be ratified.
The Premier League told BBC Sport that Monday’s adverse weather meant there were still outstanding transfers that needed approval from its board.
Arshavin’s agent Dennis Lachter claimed he was “very confident” the forward’s move from Zenit St Petersburg will be ratified by the Premier League.
“It was completed in extra time but we must wait for confirmation,” he stated.
On Monday, a Zenit spokesman claimed that the transfer had fallen through and the player was returning to the club.
But Lachter told BBC Sport the deal had been agreed by all parties and only needed to be made official by the Premier League. In 16 years this has been the most difficult transfer ever
Arshavin’s agent Dennis Lachter
Lachter added that “in 16 years this has been the most difficult transfer ever”, without wanting to go into details of the sticking points in the deal.
The clubs had been in discussions over the move for the duration of the transfer window but the 1700 GMT deadline passed on Monday without any official word on the player’s future.
It was understood that Arsenal had agreed a fee with Zenit, during which time Arshavin, one of the stars of Euro 2008, accepted personal terms and passed a medical.
Reports suggested the deal collapsed when the clubs could not reach an agreement, with the claim being the move broke down over the size of the fee and compensation Zenit would be paid for allowing Arshavin to break his contract.
But later on Monday Zenit spokesman Alexei Petrov was quoted as saying: “The deal was signed for three-and-a-half years and the financial details will be disclosed tomorrow.”
Another report claimed Arshavin had joined Arsenal “until June 2012 for £12m”.
Arshavin travelled to London on Sunday in order to complete the formalities of the move before the transfer deadline.
However, after being pictured in Hertfordshire, key figures in the deal said that Arshavin had left for an airport and the move was off, amid suggestions that the two clubs differed in their valuation of the player. 606: DEBATE
He had better be worth all the trouble…
1amLegend
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has remained hopeful throughout that he would land his man.
“We are always confident, we try our best, if we can find an agreement, we will do it,” he had previously remarked.
“These kind of stories sometimes develop in the last minute on the final day of the transfer window. It is very difficult to predict.”
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