Arshavin dreams of wearing Barcelona shirt

Vitaly Mutko, the president of the Russian football federation, has said to journalists that Zenit Saint Petersburg forward and Russian international Andrei Arshavin (27) would like to play for Barcelona:

"Arshavin would like to play abroad, maybe for Barcelona. That club is in his heart since he was a young boy and it's his dream to play there one day. He talks about Barcelona the whole time. I'm sure he could play there without any problem and show all his quality. Andrei has no less quality than the likes of Deco. But I don't think they can pay him more than he earns now."

Asked about the rumours linking him with a summer move, Arshavin said in an interview with Madrid sports tabloid As that he prefers to leave for a Spanish club: "Maybe the time to leave indeed has come. I know I have offers from England and Germany, but what I really would like is to play in the Primera División. I have always followed the Spanish league and I like the football they play there. But at this moment, I didn't yet receive any offers from Spain."

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that former Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard suggested the club to follow Arshavin earlier this year. Catalan sports paper Sport claims that Arshavin, whose contract with Zenit expires in 2010 and who is represented by Konstantin Sarsadin, categorically rejected several offers from English premier League clubs because he only wants to leave Russia for Barcelona.

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