I am not sure that God is the only one who can put this deal through though, Zenit have enough power to swallow their pride and just give up because they do not have a very strong hand at this moment in time

ArshavinVision.co.uk

Welcome again to the famous Arshavin website. I said yesterday that I was sure I would mention his name and Arsenal name together again in the near future, but I didn’t think that it would be so soon.

If you are bored then you can skip this part if you like, I won’t take offence, honest.

Lets start with the player himself who has been pretty quiet until now.

“My hopes now rest with God. Apart from him, nobody can help me,” Arshavin is quoted as saying in The Times.

“I see Arsenal as my team of the future. Everything now depends on Zenit. If they want to sell me, they can do it very quickly. My intentions to leave the club have not changed since the summer. It is obvious that in these times of [financial] crisis, no one will offer such a big amount.

“Zenit have to think realistically. I believe that Arsenal’s offer is much closer to my real value in the transfer market at the moment.”

Well that is nice isn’t it? Is this because we are the love of his life or that we could be his only way out? You can assume that he would have already spoken to Arsene Wenger and been showed around the training ground etc and once a player gets the Wenger treatment then they usually have the urge to sign on the dotted line even if the monthly pay packet isn’t always as heavy as you could get elsewhere.

I am not sure that God is the only one who can put this deal through though, Zenit have enough power to swallow their pride and just give up because they do not have a very strong hand at this moment in time. No club wants a player who doesn’t want to be there. The manager would also like to know what the situation is regarding transfer funds, so for the good of everyone can they just take the money, shake hands and just get on with it, If only it was so simple ey?

Chairman Peter Hill-Wood in his usually blunt style told Zenit what the situation via the Daily Star.

“This is our final offer – we don’t go any further. If we don’t get him, we don’t get him. There are other fish in the sea.

“There is a limit. We made an offer and have now increased it a bit, but we don’t do exactly what everyone wants us to do necessarily.”

Zenit St Petersburg claim that Arshavin’s agent Dennis Lachter is not involved in negotiations and doesn’t know what he is talking about.

“We are certainly conducting negotiations directly with the Arsenal chief executive,” Zenit general director Maksim Mitrofanov told Sport Express. “The footballer’s agent (Lachter) is not taking part in them.

“Because of this he simply does not know all the details of the process of negotiation, and in this sense his comments should not always be trusted.

“As regards the process itself, as I have already said, it is not simple, but it is moving and we hope that it will lead to its logical conclusion.”

Ooh how very bitchy, Channel 4 should turn this into a soap to rival Eastenders at 7.30pm, come to think of it, I’m not sure what would do my head in more.

Can we just skip to the logical conclusion please, the stuff before is very tedious and boring. I kind of prefer the Rosicky transfer, quick and easy and behind closed doors.

New football director of Arsenal, Alex Hleb has already spoken about who should be coming out of Arsenal and heading for Spain, now he has turned his attentions on who should be coming in.

Hleb said:

“I am sure that if Andrei joins Arsenal, it will work out well. There, he would be an even bigger star.

“He needs to train well and be himself. Arshavin is a top-class footballer and I think he would fit into Arsenal’s plans.

“However, it would be important for him to learn English.”

I think it is probably more important for him to actually get the chance to sign a contract first. Who asked Hleb these questions anyway, And for what reason? Its a strange one.

Ok, lets put that aside for now and talk about the players that are here. The reserves played last night against a rather negative Stoke City side. The similarities between the reserve teams and the first teams are uncanny. The young Arsenal side played some fantastic quick one touch football in patches during the match that left me opened mouthed. Some of the combination play is at least as good as the first team at times, you could argue about the standard of football but the speed of which they pass and move is quite amazing.

Like the first team it needs to be kept going for longer periods during games instead of in fits and starts. Also like the first team the defence looked incredibly shaky at set pieces which they conceded two goals against the run of play.

I shall get onto Eduardo in a second but the highlight of the match was a magic piece of finishing from who else? Jack Wilshere. Outside of the left foot, bent around the goalkeeper into the far corner. It reminded me of Paul Merson of old. I still think young Jack needs physical development before he can take that next step up. He is very committed in the tackle but is often brushed aside which is fair enough, the guy has just turned 17. So he is still a kid. When he bulks up and grows stronger then he will be top top class.

Eduardo played his first 90 minutes of the season and didn’t really put a foot wrong but he was absent for long periods of the game which you could expect. It reminded me of the Eduardo of the beginning of last season. He will get back to his best with more games under his belt. We thought he scored the winner in the last minutes but he was flagged for offside.

Special mention to Fran Merida who I thought was fantastic. Great passer of the ball, sees things early and could well have a long term future in this Arsenal team.

I flicked over to the Burnley vs Spurs match and was shocked at the 3-0 scoreline. I swear I turned into a Burnley fan for that period of extra time, I was so nervous as the game went on, and my heart sank when Tottenham scored the first. Ah well, it wasn’t to be. I have never felt so much for a team that wasn’t Arsenal, and that includes England.

Thank you for reading ArshavinVision, back again with more (oh and perhaps some Arsenal news as well)

Back Tomorrow.

Don’t forget that you can submit your own articles on the YourVision section and receive feedback from fellow Gooners. Latest article YourVision – Does Rosicky still have a place at Arsenal… (By goonerosicky)