Arsenal to fight Barcelona for Arshavin
Arsenal will have to battle it out with Spanish giants Barcelona for the signature of Russian playmaker Andrei Arshavin. Arshavin, who has impressed in his two games in Euro 2008, is expected to leave UEFA Cup winners Zenit St Petersburg this summer - but his agent has warned the player will only move for football reasons and not financial ones.
Dennis Lachter has confirmed that Barcelona have shown an interest in the 27-year-old, but insists no firm offers have been made.
He said: "The player is fully focused on the European Championships and the semi-final with Spain and he will decide his future after the tournament.
"He will play for Barcelona if Barcelona want him to play for them. But they are not the only club who are interested in him
"He is after a new challenge, he will not move for the sake of money. He is at Zenit who are a very rich club and who pay him well.
"There are not that many clubs in the world that can match his pay at the moment, but the main reasons for leaving will be sporting ones."
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is one of many admirers of Arshavin and expects the player to move to England rather than Spain.
He said: "He could be tempted by wanting to play in the best league. But I don't know what the situation is with Zenit. Maybe he wants to stay because they are in the Champions League."
Comments
Add a comment
Be the first to comment on this
If you are a Gambling.com member, please login at the top left of this page.
If you are not a Gambling.com member, please complete our sign up form—membership is free and it takes just a minute or two to sign up.