Looking forward to the last transfer window month

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo looks ahead to the last month of the summer transfer window.


Central defender
With the transfer of Shakhtar Donetsk defender and Ukrainian international Dmytro Chygrynskiy (22) having become unlikely because of the player's participation in a Champions league qualifying game, Barcelona could decide not to sign another centre-back and to count on Henrique and youth players Muniesa or Fontàs.

Midfielder
Signing another midfielder seems at this moment the priority of the club, with Liverpool defensive midfielder and Argentine international Javier Mascherano (25) and Arsenal midfielder and Spanish international Cesc Fàbregas (22) on top of the list. A player with a back-up profile like Poulsen is not an option.

Left winger
With a transfer of main target Franck Ribéry not being possible, a transfer of a left winger is not a priority because the alternatives don't convince. Valencia left wing attacker and Spanish international Juan Mata (21) could be an option if he cannot reach a renewal agreement with Valencia this summer. Other rumoured options like Di María, Robinho or Arshavin seem far off at this moment. Homegrown players Pedro, Jeffren or Gai are expected to get their chances.

Read more:
Transfer of Chygrynskiy becomes unlikely
Mascherano or Cesc
Mata will use Barcelona offer to get pay rise

Arshavin dismisses Barcelona rumours

Asked about the rumours linking him with a move to Barcelona (read more here), Arsenal attacker and Russian international Andrei Arshavin (27) has unconfirmedly denied the new reports in an interview with Russian sports paper Sport-Express:

"That is nothing more than a rumour. I'm an Arsenal player and the only thing I am thinking about is preparing for the new season.

It's true that if they do not solve the tax issues in England, it's possible that they will see an exodus of stars. But, in my view, the Premier League is still the best. However, we will find out when we see what happens in the Champions League, of course."

Read more:
Arshavin possible left wing top target
Agent Arshavin invites Barcelona to move
Arshavin could be alternative for Ribery

Agent Arshavin denies Barcelona hint

Asked about his presumed comments inviting Barcelona to make an offer for Arsenal attacker and Russian international Andrei Arshavin (27) (read more here), the player's agent Dennis Lachter has denied has denied in an interview with British sports site Sport that he has made the statements:

"This is the first time I've heard anything about these comments. I haven't spoken with anybody and it's quite strange to hear. It appears I'm getting quite famous again, but also that somebody is just trying to use my name.

I've never spoken with Barcelona and I think that somebody is just trying to get a story. All this stuff is made up. Two months ago I heard a lot about some kind of conflict between Arshavin and other Arsenal players. It's bullshit you know. I would say that it looks like your media colleagues are just trying to find some hot news.

I also want to make clear that I'm still the player's agent. We have a contract and this contract will be finished in one and a half years. Until then, I am the manager of Andrei Arshavin. He sent me a letter, absolutely. Listen, it's like entering a contract with Arsenal or anybody else, there are obligations. If you think that you can just cancel this formal relationship between two parties just like that, well you can't do it. That's it. I'm his agent."

Read more:
Arshavin possible left wing top target
Agent Arshavin invites Barcelona to move

Agent Arshavin invites Barcelona to move

Asked about the new rumours linking Arsenal attacker and Russian international Andrei Arshavin (27) with a move to Barcelona (read more here), the player's former agent Dennis Lachter has said in an interview with Catalan radio station Com Ràdio that Barcelona should take the initative:

"I think that Barcelona should first make Arsenal a formal offer. After that, we can sit down and talk with them."

Read more:
Arshavin possible left wing top target
Arsenal willing to sell Cesc
Arshavin could be alternative for Ribery

Arshavin possible left wing top target

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that Arsenal attacker and Russian international Andrei Arshavin (27) is becoming an option for the left wing, with Barcelona seeing the Russian as an alternative for Bayern player Ribéry.

Guardiola had last summer already given his permission to sign Arshavin and wouldn't object the transfer. Barcelona would think that a transfer of Arshavin could have a bigger media impact than for example the signing of Valencia player Mata.

Arshavin, who last summer was very close to joining Barcelona (read more here), wouldn't feel comfortable in Arsenal, also because of tax problems, and wants to join Barcelona.

Arshavin is nevertheless a key player for Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger and the English Premier League club would certainly ask for more than the 15 million euro° transfer fee they paid in January. Like in the case of Valencia player Villa, Barcelona would count on the player to put pressure on his club.

Read more:
Arshavin might become an option this summer
Barcelona wanted Arshavin as a substitute
Arshavin talks about failed Barcelona transfer

Arshavin might become an option this summer

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that it's not excluded that Arsenal attacker and Russian international Andrei Arshavin (27) could become a transfer target for Barcelona later this summer.

Barcelona didn't yet move for the player but the club would have noted the wish of the player to join Barcelona (read more here) and might again turn to Arshavin if other options for the left wing fail.

The Russian player, whose contract with Arsenal expires in 2012, wouldn't be happy with the unexpectedly high taxes in England, that make him earn less money than expected, while Arsenal wouldn't want to give in to his demand for a raise to solve the problem.

Read more:
Arshavin could be alternative for Ribery
Barcelona still interested in Arshavin
Arshavin talks about failed Barcelona transfer

Arshavin could be alternative for Ribery

Arsenal attacker and Russian international Andrei Arshavin (27) is quoted by British tabloid The Sun as saying that he would like to play for Barcelona one day: "If I have the chance to play for Barcelona, I'd be really happy."

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that Arshavin, a well-known Barcelona fan, could be offering himself to Barcelona as an option in case the transfer of Ribéry would fail.

Read more:
Arshavin talks about failed Barcelona transfer
Arshavin repeats Barcelona is his favourite club
Barcelona still interested in Arshavin

Arshavin talks about failed Barcelona transfer

Arsenal attacker and Russian international Andrei Arshavin (27) has said in an interview with British tabloid The Daily Mail that, despite an offer by Barcelona last summer and despite being a Barcelona fan, it in the end is probably best he didn't join the club:

"I did have an offer from Barcelona but Zenit were not happy. I try not to think about what could have happened and at least at Arsenal I am playing. At Barcelona I think I would be sitting on the bench, like Aleksandr Hleb.

Which player could I replace? Thierry Henry? No, he is too good and I think Messi will be the World Player of the Year. If I could vote it would be for Messi. Even if you just count the goals and the beautiful passes and look at it statistically, Messi would win over Ronaldo. It has been close but Messi has been better. So where would I play at Barcelona?

Last season, once I knew I was leaving St Petersburg, the choice was always England or Spain, never Italy. I think the English league right now is the best league there has ever been, whereas in Italy it is very defensive, very closed football. I do not like it. I enjoy the honesty of English football, because nobody gives up, and almost all the best players are here. Italian football is at the bottom because of all those scandals. Their league is not very interesting.

I love Barcelona for the same reasons I love Arsenal. It is as if they do not even think of the result, they just want to play and score and if they lose, OK, then they will go out and do it again and win next time. At Arsenal, all we think about is how to attack, how to score, how to dribble, how to make a pass. We do not think so much about defence. Probably, for results, this is no good: but I like it.

That is why I hope Barcelona beat Manchester United in the Champions League final. United look very solid but they play like machines, whereas Barcelona are dreamers, they are more creative. Sometimes United kill everything and I like Barcelona's football more."

Read more:
Barcelona still interested in Arshavin
Arshavin repeats Barcelona is his favourite club
Barcelona could make a new move for Arshavin

Barcelona still interested in Arshavin

Asked about the situation of Arsenal attacker and Russian international Andrei Arshavin (27), the player's agent Dennis Lachter has unconfirmedly suggested in an interview with a Russian newspaper that Barcelona is still interested in signing the player, who wouldn't be entirely happy at Arsenal:

"To put it mildly he doesn't like playing on the left. But at the moment Wenger has a problem in that zone. So until they buy a good left-winger, Andrei is going to play there.

And to tell the truth the players of Arsenal are not easy to deal with either. The squad consists almost entirely of foreigners. The French diaspora rules there. Also there are guys, like van Persie and Fabregas, who are rather jealous about Andrei's fast growing popularity in England.

But such situation can only add motivation for him to work harder and improve his football skills. He didn't have any problems with any specific team-mates, but he was a target of jokes. Not very smart jokes, I must admit. But that's a football team for you. Such jokes are the same everywhere, in Russia or England.

It's not only Barcelona who are still interested in buying the player. After the game at Liverpool where Andrey scored four goals several teams told me they were interested in him. But currently he is an Arsenal player. Taking into consideration the amount of money which was paid for him and important role he's already acquired at the club, my client is not going to leave."

Read more:
Barcelona could make a new move for Arshavin
Arshavin repeats Barcelona is his favourite club
Barcelona wanted Arshavin as a substitute

Case closed: Arshavin

Zenit Saint Petersburg forward and Russian international Andrei Arshavin (27) will not play for Barcelona in the future, like had been rumoured over the last months (read more here).

Arsenal has yesterday officially announced the transfer of Arshavin: "Arsenal Football Club is delighted to announce that Russian international midfielder, Andrey Arshavin has joined the Gunners from Zenit St. Petersburg on a long-term contract for an undisclosed fee."

Zenit has confirmed the transfer on their official website. The Russian player, for whom Arsenal is believed to have paid a little 19 million euro°, would have signed a contract for the next two-and-a-half years.

pep's opinion:
a real pity that we weren't able to push this deal through. a quality player, a confessed culé, hungry to play in a top league. hleb still at arsenal and arshavin with us: it wouldn't have cost us more and we would have been less messi-dependent.

Read more:
Arshavin repeats Barcelona is his favourite club
Case closed: Pavlyuchenko
Barcelona wanted Arshavin as a substitute

Arshavin repeats Barcelona is his favourite club

Asked about the rumours that linked him earlier this year with a move to Barcelona (read more here), Zenit Saint Petersburg forward and Russian international Andrei Arshavin (27) has said in an interview with Spanish football weekly paper Don Balón that Barcelona is his preferred destination:

"I still want to go and play abroad. I would like to play in Spain or England. Barça is my favourite club. My childhood idols were Stoichkov, Romario and later on Ronaldo and Ronaldinho. All played for Barcelona, the club I was fan of. I loved their playing style. In England, I first liked Manchester United but now I like Chelsea more."

Read more:
Arshavin agent invites Barcelona to move
Barcelona wanted Cesc and Arshavin was close
Barcelona could make a new move for Arshavin

Spain possible January destination for Arshavin

Asked about the continuous rumours linking Zenit Saint Petersburg forward and Russian international Andrei Arshavin (27) with several European top clubs among which Barcelona (read more here), the player's agent Dennis Lachter has said in an interview with football site Goal that his destination will be one of the three top leagues in Europe:

"We have not verified the situation just yet, but we know that there are several clubs in Spain, England and Italy who are all interested in Arshavin. I don't want to comment on which clubs are interested because there has been plenty of speculation regarding the situation.

It will be clearer in around a few weeks when the Champions League and UEFA Cup takes a break, and it will be much easier to understand where he will be going. The final match for Zenit in the Champions League could be his final accord with the club and this is significant for Andrei. He has won two titles in Europe as well as bronze in the Euros.

The key leagues for the player are the Premier League, Serie A and La Liga. I don't think it's right to comment about whether he will go. I don't think it's the right way to promote the player by speculating about where he could end up, but we will have a clearer idea around the middle of December when the interested clubs decide to come forward if they are serious."

Read more:
Arshavin agent invites Barcelona to move
Barcelona wanted Cesc and Arshavin was close
Barcelona could make a new move for Arshavin

Barcelona wanted Cesc and Arshavin was close

Asked about the rumours saying that Barcelona would have tried to sign Arsenal midfielder and Spanish international Cesc Fàbregas (21) during the summer transfer window (read more here), former Barcelona sports vice president Marc Ingla, who left the club in july (read more here), has confirmed in an interview with Catalan radio station Catalunya Ràdio that Barcelona wanted the Catalan player to return:

"We went there trying to sign Cesc, but Arsenal manager Wenger wanted him as the leader of his project so it appeared to be impossible. It would have been a very expensive transfer and the player also feels very good in London. I also want to make clear that we never offered them to give Xavi in exchange.

We also talked with several centre forwards but we couldn't find an agreement with any of them. The transfer of Arshavin on the other hand was very close but then Zenit blew up the deal by suddenly asking 30 million euro°."

Read more:
Barcelona wanted Cesc-Hleb package deal
Cesc dreams of Barcelona return
Barcelona preparing January bid for Cesc

Arshavin agent invites Barcelona to move

Asked about the new rumours linking Zenit Saint Petersburg forward and Russian international Andrei Arshavin (27) with a move to Barcelona (read more here), the player's agent Dennis Lachter has said in an interview with Catalan radio station COM Ràdio that Barcelona hasn't yet called him:

"We have already several proposals on the table but no Barcelona official has contacted me until this day. Arshavin has already declared that he wants to leave Zenit. The team that wants him just has to make us an offer and then we can start negotiating.

At this moment Barcelona is playing great, so you should ask Guardiola, Txiki or Laporta if they're interested in Andrei. Tell Guardiola that he calls me or that they give me the number of Guardiola, Txiki or Laporta. Time will tell what can happen."

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that, despite the club not planning any transfers this winter (read more here), Barcelona could consider to make a bid for Arshavin if Zenit would seriously drop the asking price. Catalan sports paper Sport claims that Barcelona manager Josep Guardiola, who likes the Russian player, has been following Arshavin closely over the last months.

Read more:

Di Maria and Arshavin will be monitored

Barcelona wanted Arshavin as a substitute

Barcelona could make a new move for Arshavin

Barcelona could make a new move for Arshavin

Catalan sports paper Sport claims that Barcelona could make another attempt to sign Zenit Saint Petersburg forward and Russian international Andrei Arshavin (27) when the next transfer period opens in January (read more here).

Both Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristian and Barcelona manager Josep Guardiola would be convinced by Arshavin's qualities and the Russian player could be on the market during the winter transfer window.

Asked about a possible move for Arshavin, Guardiola said yesterday at a press conference that the decision on whether or not to sign players in january isn't taken yet: "It's an excellent player, but I'm now focusing on the squad we have. That's how things are now. When the winter market opens, we will look at the situation and make a decision if anything has to change. But it's indeed a great player."

Asked about the new rumours linking him with several European top clubs, Arshavin said to journalists that the first condition for an exit is a lowering of the asking price: "At the moment these are only rumours. And it is useless to comment on them. We should understand one simple thing: the most important thing now is not the interest of whatever team but whether the club agrees to let me go.

I have shared my position on the point. It is quite clear that at the moment nobody is going to buy Arshavin for 25 million euro°, so the problem is the reasonable price. When the price is set we can talk about a possible transfer and also about my personal preferences."

Read more:

Arshavin waiting for a call from Barcelona
Arshavin confirms Barcelona offer

Barcelona wanted Arshavin as a substitute

Barcelona wanted Arshavin as a substitute

Asked about the transfer soap opera regarding to Zenit Saint Petersburg forward and Russian international Andrei Arshavin (27) this summer, Zenit general director Maxim Mitrofanov has said in an interview with Russian sports paper Sport-Express that Barcelona didn't want to spend big on the Russian attacker because they didn't see him as a first-choice player:

"As you remember, Zenit allegedly got offers from Arsenal, Chelsea and many other clubs. But the first offer came from Barcelona as saying they wanted to buy Arshavin for 15 million euro°. After that we started negotiations with the Catalan club and brought out our position according to the matter, that we were not going to sell our leading player for this sum of money.

The Spanish camp representatives were honest with us and said they wanted to acquire Arshavin as a player who would come as a substitution. However they were not ready to pay 20-25 million euro° for Andrei Arshavin, and as a result Barcelona acquired Alexandr Hleb.

We also considered Tottenham offer. The Spurs sporting director came to Saint-Petersburg to hold talks with Arshavin. He told about the team, its main targets. Then Totenham sent an official 16 million euro offer to Zenit, as they were going to pay this sum during four years. This deal was unacceptable for us.

From supporters’ point of view many of them think that Arshavin should switch to a foreign club, but majority of them are convinced he should play in Zenit forever. However it’s wrong to see the situation from this angle. They need to understand that club has its own goals and targets, the player earns money in the club and we do everything to make our players’ life comfortable.

Arshavin’s contract is one of the best in Russian Premier League, so we didn’t review his contract conditions this summer. Andrei wanted to leave, but Zenit made no attempts to improve his contract with the club."

Read more:
Arshavin confirms Barcelona offer
Di Maria and Arshavin will be monitored
Arshavin didn't convince Guardiola

Arshavin didn't convince Guardiola

Barcelona site Pelikano claims that the transfer of Zenit Saint-Petersburg forward and Russian international Andrei Arshavin (27) didn't go through because Barcelona manager Josep Guardiola wasn't convinced of the qualities of the player.

Besides that, Metallurg Donetsk vice president Dimitri Sellyuk, the agent of Barcelona player Yaya Touré who acted as intermediary (read more here), would have tried to arrange an agreement with former Barcelona player and manager Johan Cruijff without fully informing Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain.


Read more:

Arshavin confirms Barcelona offer

Five players on left wing short list

Final offensive for Arshavin

Di Maria and Arshavin will be monitored

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that Barcelona will be closely monitoring the situation of Benfica left winger and Argentinian international Angel Di María (20 - picture, on the right) and Zenit Saint-Petersburg forward and Russian international Andrei Arshavin (27).

Barcelona manager Josep Guardiola is aware that his squad lacks a left winger and if he cannot solve this problem with the current players, Barcelona will probably sign a player for that position during the January transfer window.

That's the reason why Barcelona will follow the performances of Di María, who would have the advantage that he will still be able to participate in the Champions League next year, and Arshavin over the coming months. Boca Juniors forward and Argentinian international Rodrigo Palacio (26) would be a third option.

Read more:

Barcelona interested in Di Maria

Five players on left wing short list

Arshavin confirms Barcelona offer

Ribery was on top of Guardiola's wish list

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that Bayern Munich wing attacker and French international Franck Ribéry (25) was on top of the wish list of Barcelona managr josep guardiola to replace Ronaldinho as left wing attacker.

Barcelona sounded out Bayern officials who were nevertheless not willing to start talking (read more here).

The second name that was proposed by Guardiola was that of Real Madrid left winger and Brazilian international Robinho (24). After talking with agent Wagner Ribeiro, it soon became clear that Madrid didn't want to sell the player to Barcelona (read more here).

Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain then proposed trying the transfer of Valencia left winger and Spanish international David Silva (22), who in the end chose to renew his contract with Valencia.

Barcelona finally looked at the option to sign Zenit Saint-Petersburg forward and Russian international Andrei Arshavin (27) or Sevilla left winger and Spanish international Diego Capel (20). Although Guardiola wasn't totally convinced of their qualities, both players could have partially solved the left wing problems but a deal was not found.

Read more:

Failed bids for Bayern duo Toni and Ribery

Nani was on top of the transfer list

Robinho agent admits contact with Barcelona

Arshavin will stay with Zenit

Asked about the rumours linking Zenit Saint-Petersburg forward and Russian international Andrei Arshavin (27) with a summer exit (read more here), Zenit manager Dick Advocaat said yesterday at a press conference that the player will not leave this transfer period:

"The door is closed, the deal is closed. No interested club has offered the 30 million euro° we wanted for him and what we think he is worth. They had several weeks of time to buy him and the highest offer was only 16 million euro°. With respect, I think that Arshavin costs more than that so that’s the end of the story."

Read more:
Five players on left wing short list
Arshavin confirms Barcelona offer
Barcelona will have to move for Arshavin