Andrei Arshavin was forced to cough up a fortune to gain his
move from Zenit St Petersburg to Arsenal yesterday.
The Daily Mail says 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 agreed 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.
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.
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."