Asked about the rumours linking him with a summer move (read more here), Zenit Saint-Petersburg forward and Russian international Andrei Arshavin (27) has said in an interview with Catalan sports paper Sport that he wants to leave Zenit this summer and that he prefers to join Barcelona:
"When we won the Russian league last year, I already said that now is the right moment to leave. I have reached the top here, we won the league and the Uefa cup, so this is the moment to move on. It's certainly not a financial thing cause I doubt that another club will pay me what Zenit can offer me. It's just a football challenge. I want to play in a big league.
I have made my decision and manager Advocaat already knows that I'm leaving. I'm playing for Zenit again because I didn't want to stay away from the training and the matches for several weeks. So I agreed with the coach and the club that, while my transfer is being discussed and finalized, I will play when the team needs me.
I don't think that I'm telling something new now, but my dream club is Barcelona. Everybody knows that playing for Barcelona has always been my dream. I'm a fan of the club since that goal made by Ronald Koeman at Wembley. I was impressed by that goal and by the way the team played. I discovered the Dream Team being a young boy and since then I wanted to play for Barcelona.
Barcelona is a team that can win 7-0 or lose 4-3 because its philosophy is to play attacking football. It has always been like that as long as I can remember and that made me very enthustiastic about the club. I loved that way of playing. Koeman, Laudrup, Stoichkov, Guardiola,... They didn't always win, but everybody was talking about Barça and it was a pleasure to watch them.
I've talked about Barcelona with (former Barcelona player and current Russian national team assistant coach) Igor Korneev and he explained me a lot of things about the club and the city and he always tells me that it's the best place where I could go to, that there's just no comparison possible with any other club.
I'm aware that my name is linked with Barcelona these days, but I don't know if they still want me now that they have bought Hleb. We're of course different players but does Barcelona still have enough money to buy me? I hope so. I'm waiting for a call, I'm waiting for a transfer. But at this moment Zenit is asking too much. All I know is that Barcelona has offered 15 million euro° and that Zenit wants 30 million euro°, which is a lot of money.
I've seen the Camp Nou so many times on the television. It has a magnificent pitch and a great atmosphere. I'm not afraid of the pressure, I'm playing eight years for Zenit now and here you also have that pressure. The Barcelona fans are demanding but that's because of the greatness of the club. They are used to play in their own way and to win trophies doing so. My biggest wish is to be part of this club."
Read more:
Arshavin confirms that he is a Barcelona fan
Arshavin negotiations on a dead point
Zenit lowers Arshavin asking price
Thursday 17 July 2008
Arshavin waiting for a call from Barcelona
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15 comments:
15 million euro =
23 million us dollar
12 million british pound
30 million euro =
47 million us dollar
24 million british pound
I hope the Robinho story is just nonsense and Barcelona sign Arshavin. He's got the talent and a true love for the team.
hahaha i actually like this chap ...any player who wants to bleed barca colors is a standup player. and theres no doubt heez talented...but football is not just about talent these days theres lot of money involved and sumtimes negotiations dont go the way we hope...wouldnt mind him in barca colors one bit so if theres a way we can get him on the cheap, which at this point is between 15-18 mil euro we shud get him.
heres another thought from me on the subject:
..WHERE THE F@#k!! HAVE U BEEN ALL THESE YEARS MATE ...THE RUSSIAN LEAGUE HAS TO SERIOUSLY WOrk on ITS MEDIA EXPOSURE...
i agree... if he's available for 15-18 mio get him. but i dont know if we really need him since we signed hleb... is hleb planned for midfield or for the wings?
i'd like him too come purely for the fact that he's a fan, so he'd hopefully give his all. but not more than 18 mil. barca should get aguero now as his price will be even bigger next year, aguero, messi and next season benzema we'd be unstoppable
we dont need you sorry.. unless you can play centre forward or left wing( I think he can but its not his best position). Its great that he's a fan.. but I am a fan too.. and I dont get to play for the club either
i would take Robinho over him, but if he wants us that bad?!!! what are we waiting for? offer the kid a contract!
Arshavin is still an unknown quantity, but one worth the risk for his work in UEFA Cup last season, more than the Euros. If the magic number winds up being 18 million, why not?
Robinho....I dunno. I can't see him being cheap enough. He'd also want first-team duties, or you know he's going to be a problem.
Oh, and Aguero is in the 35 million Euro range. That's spendy for what we need from him. Figure on tacking another 5 mil because Atletico wouldn't want to sell him to a direct competitor.
Note that Arshavin is posing with this year's shirt. Very cool.
Arshavin's got the talent and he obviously loves the club. we should concentrate on signing him for our left wing. with Messi's creativity on the right and Arshavin's on the left, a 4-3-3 with Henry in the center would be... formidable. Arshavin runs himself ragged and makes his presence felt all over the pitch. we need that ability, especially coupled with the similar talents of Hleb and Dani Alves.
we should take him and finish our signings for the summer.
Arshavin, Silva or Thiago Neves and the squad is complete in my opinion.
Don't really care wich one of them.
I think some of you are getting caught up and all misty eyed because Arshavin is posing with a Barcelona shirt and has stated repeatedly his desire to join the club. I'm sure he's wondering what else can I do or say to prove to Laporta that I want to be there? Next well see him standing outside St. Petersburg actually sporting the kit this time with his name and number on the back. When will it all end?!
As "mean" as it sounds to say, Barcelona really don't need him. He needs us more than we need him. Barcelona aren't going to continue to pursue him purely for sentimental reasons. The price has to be right and Pep would have to have a clearly defined plan as to what Arshavin's role would be at the club. With Hleb on board it's safe to say that Zenit's barganing position has been weakened because Barcelona aren't as determined to pursue Arshavin as they may have been before.
Cojonudo is right, Barcelona are in a much better bargaining position now that they have signed Hleb. Further, I don't believe some of the other clubs rumored to be pursuing Arshavin have made formal offers, which also helps Barca's position. And although we do not "need" him like we did before signing Hleb, I still think he would be an outstanding signing if we can get him for under 20 million Euro. His versatility alone makes him worth it. Personally, my first choice would be to play him on the left wing, and signing him would mean that we no longer need to pursue a left winger, and truth be told, with Bojan, Henry, and Eto'o, we really don't need to sign another striker. If someone else in midfield got hurt, Arshavin could move over and Iniesta could play left wing (Iniesta looked for dangerous on the left wing at the beginning of last season when Ronnie first got hurt). Or, if we wanted to play a 4-4-2 at times, he would be an excellent second striker. Bottom line, it's always very useful to have a utility player that can play in three or four positions effectively. That's not to say I would pay 30 million for him, but when push comes to shove, I bet Zenit will sell for no more than what we got for Ronnie.
And although I do think people at times are overdoing the fact that he is a fan, there is something to be said for having somebody like that in the team. We've seen what can happen with egotistical players who don't care about the colors. And would anyone argue that Puyol and Xavi's leadership and dedication to the club's colors have not been a foundation around which the team and fan base can rally? As guys like Puyol and Xavi demonstrate, it never hurts to have players that truly love Barca and on whom the coach can count to ALWAYS give 100%, even when things are not going well. Every team hits a rut now and then during the season, and it is the teams that band together and tough it out through those hard times that often lift the trophy at the end of the season (it hurts to say it, but look at Madrid two seasons ago under Capello).
That picture was taken on Saturday by the way.
I'm sure Barca will buy him. If not, they're really stupid.
We would exchange an unmotivated striker (R10) for a high motivated striker (Arshavin). Both are good players and both have good skills.
If Barca won't call him, I'll do :)
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