Andrei Arshavin to Tottenham rumours

By: j | July 31st, 2008

I should first say that the consistent rumours of Andrei Arshavin transferring to any number of clubs this summer has been somewhat amusing to me. Simply stated, it is astonishing that the “professional” scouting system within many top-flight clubs is so poor, that these offers only materialized after his performances at the Euros. Yet anyone on the Russian Football scene could have told you of his abilities a few years ago when the price-tag was likely one-third of what it is today. As much as you’ll hear of advanced coaching techniques within the sport, when the tracking of a player is based primarily upon a “retail” high-level competition, there is something intensely lacking and while top-shelf clubs in Europe will dish-out a king’s ransom players salaries, the major weakness in the sport is with scouting.

Before I get too far off-base, as we all know Mr. Arshavin has been the constant subject of rumours this transfer season with mostly Chelsea, Barcelona, Manchester United mentioned and a late entry to the lottery, Tottenham. As Juande Ramos collects a wish-list of players including David Bentley, Luka Modric and Giovani Dos Santos already, he has upped the ante again, with Andrei Arshavin (and reputedly Spartak Moscow predator Roman Pavlyuchenko) as the crowning jewel of his acquisitions.

A variety of sources are now quoting Mr. Arshavin’s agent, Dennis Lachter, that terms between he and the Spurs have been reached, although he does not there has yet to be an agreement between both clubs. Reiterating previous statements, Zenit St. Petersburg contends that they have yet to receive a “suitable” offer. As it relates to the bargaining world, those who wish to come to the table against the finance world of Zenit’s ownership, Gazprom, you have a bit of a problem. For those unfamiliar, Gaxprom is the worlds largest natural gas producer and corporate ten-year proforma have them targeted to be the first firm with a trillion-dollar market capitalization. Therefore you can safely rule-out financial needs in the bargaining process and will need to hit or certainly come near their valuation of Mr. Arshavin.

I will update this situation as additional information is available.