The Arshavin deal: Arsenal's rivals will want to
know the special dispensation to the Gunners as deal was only
completed almost 24 hours after the deadline...
Arsenal were heading into a major transfer storm last
night after Andrei Arshavin completed his £12million move almost 24
hours after the January deadline.
The Premier League and Football Association finally gave the
green light to the deal at 4.52pm yesterday, insisting that
'everything was in order'. But Sportsmail understands the hold-up
was caused by two key problems with the deal - Zenit St
Petersburg's failure to submit their paperwork to the FA before
Monday's 5pm deadline and what was described by one official as a
'slight issue' with the paperwork submitted by Arsenal to the
FA.
Ivan Gazidis, the new Arsenal chief executive, insisted that
they did at least submit their documents on time. But he did admit
that, when it comes to the more complicated transfer negotiations,
'sometimes you just have to let the clock run down'.
Yesterday both the FA and Premier League were reluctant to take
responsibility for the mess, with another official expressing his
frustration with Arsenal. 'It's not as if this was a last-minute
transfer,' he said.
The Premier League said they would be happy if the FA were and
last night an FA spokesman said: 'We have been liaising with the
Premier League and are satisfied that everything is in order.'
But there was a suggestion last night that lawyers had to be
brought in to resolve the situation, with some of Arsenal's main
rivals - Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill among them - sure to
demand a more detailed explanation.
