Tottenham Hotspur target Russian International Andrei Arshavin’s agent Dennis Lachter has claimed that the Zenit St Petersburg playmaker would only sign for Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal or Liverpool.
Under fire Spurs boss Juande Ramos had made 27-year-old Arshavin his main transfer target during the summer, but were unable to agree a fee with the Russian club, with Zenit holding out for their asking price of £24million.
The news from Lachter that Arshavin will only consider a move to a Premiership club playing in the Champions League will come as a blow to Ramos, who has seen his White Hart Lane team endure their worst start to a season in 96 years. Which sees the North London side rooted to the bottom of the Premier League, with only two points.
Ramos had hoped to pair Arshavin with his International strike-partner Roman Pavlyuchenko, who joined Spurs in the summer from Spartak Moscow, but now looks set to miss out on the Russian. With Chelsea and Liverpool both keen on the EURO 2008 star, according to Sportsmail online.
Lachter has also revealed that Zenit president Alexander Dyukov is in negotiations with several clubs and is just waiting for a call so that he can begin talks on personal terms for Arshavin, though Lachter did not name any club.
Lachter told the Daily Telegraph: “Andrei would like to play in the Premier League but he will not accept an offer from clubs like Newcastle, Middlesbrough and Aston Villa. There are only four British clubs he would play for and they are in the Champions League. It's not about money it's about a team and professional ambition.
“Zenit is negotiating with several clubs. We are now waiting for a phone call from Zenit president Alexander Dyukov to allow us to negotiate his personal terms with one of them. It's most likely he will be heading for England.
However, Arshavin will not be sold on the cheap, with Zenit being owned by oil giant Gazprom they can afford to hold out for the full asking price of £24million for Arshavin.
“It's going to be a very big transfer. Zenit will definitely not accept an offer of less than 30million euros (£23.8m). They are owned by Gazprom, who are one of the biggest oil companies in the world, so they can afford not to sell him cheaply.”
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