Arsenal forced to wait for Arshavin deal
Arsenal face an anxious wait to see if they have landed Arshavin
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Monday, 02, Feb 2009 10:45
Arsenal will have to wait until Tuesday to see if they have been successful in the signing of Russian playmaker Andrei Arshavin.
The most drawn-out deal of the January transfer window will go to an extra day after the Football Association revealed that they will be unable to ratify the £15 million transfer from Zenit St Petersburg due to the sheer volume of deadline day transfers they have to process.
Arshavin spent the day at a hotel just outside London and, having completed a medical, Arsenal finally agreed a fee with the Russian club and Arshavin himself finalised the details of a payment he must make to Zenit for leaving his contract early.
However, due a combination of the snow in London preventing staff at the FA from being able to attend work, and the number of late deals, Arsene Wenger must now wait an extra day to see if he has got his man.
The transfer will most likely go through provided the relevant paperwork is present as the FA earlier stated that, due to the inclement weather conditions across the UK, they were prepared to extend the deadline as long as clubs were in a position to prove an agreement was reached prior to the deadline.
The 27-year-old Arshavin was one of the stars of Euro 2008 and looked set to join Arsenal’s rivals Tottenham last summer, but they were unable to agree a fee with Zenit.
Arsenal are in dire needed of his creativity having slipped to fifth place in the Premier League, five points behind Aston Villa in the last Champions League spot, after a run which has seen them draw five of their last 10 games.