Dynamo Moscow have shown the strongest interest in the Russian international but have yet to make the 31-year-old a formal offer. At the same time, Arsenal have included Arshavin in their 25-man Champions League squad.
It’s understood that neither Zenit St Petersburg – his former club where he went on loan last season – nor cash-rich Anzhi Makhachkala are interested in signing the former Russia captain whose stock has plummeted dramatically both with club and country.
Arshavin does not figure in Arsene Wenger’s plans and although Arsenal had hoped to secure a transfer fee of around £5m for a player they paid more than £13m for in 2009, the club is now prepared to allow him to leave for free given that he is going into the final year of his contract.
Arsenal are certainly not prepared to offer Arshavin a new deal and it had been hoped that Zenit might bid to sign him for a third time. However after spending vast sums on the Brazilian striker Hulk and the Belgian midfielder Axel Witsel it’s highly unlikely that the Russian club will be able to budget for Arshavin as well.
Nevertheless his wage demands are not believed to be high and Arshavin had, it’s believed, hoped to stay in England but the most likely scenario remains that he will return to Russia if a buyer can be found with agents casting around various clubs including, now, CSKA Moscow.
Arshavin became a target for some Arsenal supporters after a series of poor performances and was, indeed, booed during home matches last season. Given the effort Arsenal put into signing the Russian his expected departure will come as a relief but will also be a significant disappointment.
Source: telegraph
