Deal or no deal: The Arshavin saga ran until the last
moment
Arsenal have
completed the signing of Russia forward Andrei Arshavin after a
tortuous day of negotiations. Sources told Sportsmail that the transfer had been
concluded, despite reports coming out of Russia that it was not
finalised in time for Monday's 5pm deadline.
Arsenal prised the 27-year-old from Zenit St Petersburg after
playing hard ball with the UEFA Cup holders. The Barclays Premier
League side finally agreed a £10million fee for Arshavin, rising by
a further £2m based on success-related clauses being met.
The fee marks a significant climb-down by Zenit, who were
looking for a figure of £20m when the window opened on New Year's
Day.
The deal was struck in the final hour of the transfer window
with Arshavin already having passed a medical earlier in the day
before agreeing a £70,000-a-week, three-and-a-half year
contract at The Emirates.
Zenit head of press Alexey Petrov told news agencies that the
deal was off. However, the club's general director Maxim Mitrofanov
said: 'Both clubs are set up to finish transaction, therefore
negotiations proceed.'
In any case, sources at Arsenal were confident everything was in
place. Should Zenit still attempt to pull the plug, Arsenal are
confident they will have recourse to take their case to FIFA.
The late stumbling block is believed to involve a £2.25m payment
Zenit claim they are owed by Arshavin, that amount being the
difference in his wages from his original deal with the Russian
side and the £90,000-a-week contract he signed last spring.
However, that impasse is understood to have broken after
Arshavin after to hand over a slice of his signing on fee to his
former club.
Arshavin would have liked to have worn the No 10 jersey he wears
for Russia and Zenit, but, with former skipper William Gallas
already laying claim to that, the playmaker is set to take the No
13.
Events moved quickly and dramatically over the 24 hours running
up to the deadline. Arshavin flew into London yesterday and spent
the night in a Herfordshire hotel, but was said to be making his
way to an airport for a flight back to St Petersburg after a
frustrating morning of negotiations.
Arshavin was disappointed with the personal terms on the table
this morning and the two sides were also unable to agree a fee. All
three parties appeared no closer this afternoon but a breakthrough
was achieved through high-level boardroom discussions between both
clubs.
Mitrofanov had been conducting talks with Arsenal director Ken
Fryar, but the Russians say that more senior members of the clubs'
two boards were put in direct contact.
The forward had reportedly hoped to sign a four-and-half year
deal on a reported £110,000 per week, but that would have smashed
Arsenal's wages structure.
The north London club's initial offer this morning was described
as being only half of Arshavin's current salary. However, sources
in Russia told Sportsmail
that Arshavin's reported currently salary of upwards of £100,000
per week were exaggerated.
He has reportedly demanded an after-tax salary of about
£3.5million. However, sources at the Russian club say that his
basic after-tax deal with Zenit is 2.2m euros (£1.97m).
Arshavin fearsed his chances of leaving Zenit were being
scuppered for the second transfer window in succession. In
September it was the dream of relocating to Tottenham
that died.
The saga has been dubbed 'The Soap Opera' in his homeland and
there has been threats that he would strike at Zenit if he did not
secure an exit.
It was reported that he was ready to walk away from football all
together after being branded greedy last week.
His involvement in Zenit's Dubai training camp in the last
fortnight was on the basis that he would just train to stay fit and
he played no part in the club's three friendly matches.
His coach Dick Advocaat has certainly planned for a future
without him and said last night that he wanted the deal done 'as
soon as practicable'. He added: 'The uncertainty is harmful, to he
and the club.'
The tedious twists and turns were mocked this morning by a
columnist in Russia's Fvremya newspaper, who wrote: 'It
seems that for Gazprom (Zenit's owners), it has been easier to
negotiate the reopening of gas pipes to Ukraine than it has been
for them to sell Arshavin.'
