Premier League - Arshavin targeting Gunners glory

Eurosport - Wed, 04 Feb 21:00:00 2009

Andrei Arshavin knows just what is expected of any Arsenal player - to help deliver the Barclays Premier League title and European glory.

FOOTBALL Andrei Arshavin - 0

The Russia international, 27, finally saw his protracted transfer from Zenit St Petersburg confirmed late on Tuesday afternoon, almost 24 hours after the deadline.

With all documentation now fully ratified by the Premier League and Football Association - albeit with some paperwork understood to have arrived when business was supposed to have been formally completed - Arshavin has returned home to await the formality of a work permit before returning to London.

While Gunners fans are likely to have to be patient for the debut of the playmaker, given the Russian domestic season finished in November, Arshavin is in no doubt of the expectations which await him.

"Arsenal's aim is to win the Premier League title and be European champions," Arshavin told Russian news channel Vesti.

"That is always the target for this club, so everybody knows that.

"The FA had to approve the deal. Everyone was waiting for their decision, and once that decision was taken and my transfer was registered with the FA, I became an Arsenal player.

"I have already had a training session, and I am pleased with how I have been welcomed. Everyone has been very hospitable."

The deal to bring Arshavin to Emirates Stadium on a four-and-a-half-year contract is understood to be for an initial £12million, with some £3m dependant on add-on clauses.

Although Gunners boss Arsene Wenger was clearly delighted to have finally landed his man, Arshavin turned out to be the club's only signing of the transfer window.

While Wenger continues to have great faith in his young side, Arsenal are currently outside the top four of the Premier League, five points behind Aston Villa.

The Gunners travel to White Hart Lane on Sunday for the north London derby against big-spending Tottenham, a match which is likely to come too soon for Arshavin.

The difference in approach to the transfer window of the rival managers has not been lost on supporters.

Nevertheless, Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis maintains Wenger's vision continues to represent sound judgement.

"It is vital that Arsenal are successful this year, but it is equally vital that Arsenal are successful next season and the season after that," said Gazidis.

"When you have an outstanding group of young players, as we have, that is always going to be a delicate balancing act.

"I think sometimes the sheer quality of our young players is underestimated.

"Of course we still need to develop consistency, and that is natural with any young team - but our players are learning and improving from week to week.

"Marrying all these things is a delicate task, but Arsene Wenger does a masterful job in managing the process, giving young players opportunities to compete at the highest level and mentoring their development.

"I believe that his Arsenal teams have played, and will continue to play, some of the most attractive and entertaining football anywhere in the world."

The severe weather which hit London earlier this week not only crippled the capital's transport networks, which meant some staff were unable to travel to the Premier League's offices on transfer deadline day, but it also caused the postponement of the FA Cup fourth-round replay against Cardiff at Emirates Stadium.

Burnley await the winners of that tie following their victory over West Brom last night.

However, should Arsenal progress from the re-arranged game on Monday February 16, then they face something of a fixture pile-up.

The FA have confirmed Burnley - who knocked the Gunners out of the Carling Cup this season - would travel to Emirates Stadium on the weekend of March 7/8, leaving Arsenal potentially a tie behind and forced to play catch-up.

Arsenal are away to Roma in the first leg of their last-16 Champions League clash on March 11 and have limited space to squeeze in another game ahead of the international break for the World Cup qualifiers.

Given there could even be a possible FA Cup quarter-final replay to schedule as well, Wenger may soon have to make a hard decision over which competition to prioritise.

Sporting Life / Eurosport

Comment 519 - 538 of 538

Sort comments by: Most recent

  1. arsene has proven time and time again dat not only is­ he an exeptional manager but a wizard in the transfer­ market, 4 me, he cant do any wrong, l strongly blive­ we'll be in the CL next season. and l can bet on­ dat. GGGGGOOOOONNNEEEERRR 444 LLLIIIIFFFFEEE !!!!

    From skillachi, on Fri 6 Feb 1:24AM

  2. I cant believe some of u call yourself Arsenal­ Fan's. Like hell do we need a new manager. Wenger­ is a genius. We have had a very unlucky season with­ injuries and some below par performances by certain­ players. We dont need a new manager just a big kick up­ the teams backside.

    From shal200848, on Thu 5 Feb 10:14PM

  3. we suk even with arshavin. what we need is a new­ manager because we certainly do have good plpayers­ worthy of a 4th place spot. starting ramsey and­ wilshere instead of eboue and song will make us win so­ much more. and also putting vela with rvp rather than­ bendtner/adebayor will produce twice the amount of­ goals. wenger just has alll the tactics wrong this­ season

    From dan.neagu, on Thu 5 Feb 4:22PM

  4. I'm an arsenal fan & i still don't think­ we'll finish above 5th place even with Arshavin,­
    we've been very poor & almost lazy in most of­ our games this season, no desire to win gets you­ nothing!

    From Eluive, on Thu 5 Feb 3:51PM

  5. Comment 546, would you have preferred Arsenal sign­ Hesky?.

    From chuka, on Thu 5 Feb 3:09PM

  6. I beliveve that arsenal has a great chance of winning a­ premier league next season but we are looking a bit­ short this season without fabregas, walcott and rosicy.­ They should be all bak to their usual form by the start­ of next season si i see arsenal havein a go at­ champoins league as well next year COME ON U GUNNERS :)

    From ziemba_420, on Thu 5 Feb 2:58PM

  7. The Arsenal have needed a centre back and a centre mid­ for 2 seasons. Arshavin will be a quality buy but not­ what we really need. the pressure is now on him to turn­ the season around. I am critical of Wenger policy in­ the last 2 season, we sold or let key players go an i­ cannot fathom why. Still rather have Wenger than appy­ arry redknapp. It must be really cold in white hart­ line still being in the shadow of The Arsenal oo 2 oo 2­ be!

    From Darren, on Thu 5 Feb 1:33PM

  8. I am not particulalry an arsenal fan, but for those of­ you who are, Arshvin is exactly what arsenal needed to­ improve!

    a lot of people have been askin themselves if­ he is really that good or if it was just on the­ European cup....well...go in the internet and look it­ up... I hve found some retty amazin videos of arshavin­ way before that!

    He seems to be a very smart player,­ if he works well at arsenal, your strikers will have­ plenty of oportunity to score...lets just hope they­ wont waste them all ;)

    Well done to Wenger to finally­ realise that he needs to buy players that will actually­ give arsenal fans some hope....u guys steel need a­ better GK tho

    gd luck

    From William, on Thu 5 Feb 10:08AM

  9. i cannot believe arsene wenger gets a hard time,at­ asenal you have the 2 most gifted young players in­ europe[walcott and fabregas]and in 2 or 3 years will­ almost certainly be the dominant force in england.I am­ saying this from a non bias view being a rangers fan so­ lay off him and let him get on with it

    From lynncook66, on Thu 5 Feb 10:06AM

  10. i think wenger is a god, whatever he does is fine and­ needs all supporters to back him
    the best manager­ arsenal have had and could never be replaced. we have a­ long and great
    history in the top flight in fact the­ longest without relagation, and will always be
    there.­ the glory days will return, have faith in our messiah.­
    ARSENAL FOREVER, GONNER FOR LIFE.!!

    From stu07, on Thu 5 Feb 9:35AM

  11. To comment no. 551
    Yes, I agree that adebayor is not­ good striker, he wastes too many chances. Just remember­ last game again West Ham - two fantastic chances, two­ misses. Pathetic! last season Arsenal was high power,­ I remember that a lot of teams was beaten 5:0, 3:0 and­ etc. If Aedabayor would be top class striker there­ could be even more - 7:0, 5:0, etc. This season is very­ unsuccessful like the end of last season, even Arsenal­ particularly haven't beaten their oponents, but won­ 3:1, 1:0, 3:1 etc. Why? I think, because to many­ injuries in the first team there are!
    Denilson,­ Bendtner, Song, Eboue - to sell? I don't think so.­ Eboue is good enough for the first team! Others are­ very young, so I hope they can become good players in 1­ or 2 seasons, but their place are on the pitch at now,­ but not in the first team! Due Adebayor, I think he­ need to sell or change position, for example RWM. Ohhh,­ but there is no place and he is overpaid.... Probably­ we need to sell him, cause he wastes too many­ chances!
    Lets take 4th place and win FA or CL this­ season! I think this is real as our main players is­ recovering fast and will score many goals like last­ season soon!

    From ghiedrukas, on Thu 5 Feb 9:20AM

  12. GO...GO... GO... ARSHAVIN .. GO... ARSENAL ...GO....­ GUNNERS GOOOOOOOO..

    From rose, on Thu 5 Feb 7:26AM

  13. This season's Arsenal is the worst ever under­ wenger while last season's was about the best ever­ in terms of creativity. The club did not win any trophy­ because was, is and will remain a failure. Put any­ other striker in his position last season, Arsenal­ would have won league and champions league what with­ all the chances he wasted.
    If the club wants to make it­ to the top four this season Adebayor will have to be­ benched as soon as Eduardo returns. Give priority to­ Vela, but please sell Adebayor come summer. He just no­ brain for football. Brain must combine with brawn to­ produce result.Denilson, Bendtner, Song, Eboue are­ wastes.Pls sell them.Arsenal for life.

    From nwosu.vincent, on Thu 5 Feb 6:50AM

  14. A few comments on some previous posts if I may.
    I'm­ a United fan, but I don't see the logic in blaming­ Arsene Wenger for Arsenals current situation. This is­ the same Arsene Wenger who guided Arsenal through the­ whole season unbeaten, just a couple of years back now.­ He hasn't changed. Arsenal are going through a bad­ period, but it doesn't make them a bad team, or­ Arsene a bad manager.
    Arshavin next....he's one­ player, and I don't think he'll suddenly­ transform Arsenal into Champions. He will surely help,­ but more is needed I think.
    Lastly on the lack of­ English players represented in EPL teams... Football­ has moved beyond just being a sport, into a multi­ million pound business. The pressure to win is­ enormous, and the financial shortfalls for losing are­ unthinkable. To this end, clubs recruit the best­ players they can get/afford, to try and achieve as much­ success both on and off the field. If the best players­ in the world aren't English, oh well.
    It's a­ sad indictement on the general quality of British­ Football.

    From David, on Thu 5 Feb 3:34AM

  15. i belive epl is the most entertaining n competetive­ football league in this world and only the best should­ play there regardless where the player is coming­ from..england players should look this as a challenge­ and to perform well under his own club and help the­ national team.

    From pujai, on Thu 5 Feb 1:36AM

  16. Arshavin is good, but he's not good enough to win­ arsenal a premier league title. Liverpool is such a­ strong (TEAM)!! Although don't count arsenal out­ of the champions league. I can see them making it into­ the last 8.

    From patpope23, on Thu 5 Feb 1:27AM

  17. I am a great Arsenal fan but I am beginning to loss­ faith and interest in the team, for 2 resons. One, for­ the dogged refusal of the manager to improve on the­ numbers of English players in the Club. Very strange­ indeed that an English team would come out for a match­ and you wont see a single British born player on the­ field. I am not British, more strange is that only few­ English people are complaining about this. The second­ problem I have with the manager is his constant and­ annoying refrence to his so-called young Team. What­ brings honours to a team is how often you bring glory­ to the club and not how many young players you have.­ You norture a young player only to loss him to a more­ ambitious club after few years. It is high time this­ man brought in matured and experienced players to the­ folds and starts winning matches. I write from­ Germany.

    From Ben Emovon

    From jamin o, on Wed 4 Feb 11:03PM

  18. ARSHAVIN.......ARSHAVIN......The best money can buy.­ you are so wellcome. IN ARSENE WE TRUST.
    FACTFILE:Voted­ Russian Footballer of the Year in 2006
    Started all 30­ matches in Zenit’s Russian Premier League campaign in­ 2007, the first time Zenit had won a league title since­ 1984
    Played a key part in Zenit’s 2008 UEFA Cup­ winning campaign
    Came on as a half-time substitute in­ the 2008 UEFA Super Cup victory over Manchester United­ in Monaco, in August 2008. Zenit won 2-1
    Three­ impressive performances earned him a place in the ‘EURO­ 2008 Team of the Tournament’
    Graduated from the Smena­ football school. In 1999 – 2000, he played for Zenit’s­ ‘farm club’, Zenit-2 in the Russian Second Division­
    Made his full Zenit debut in England, against Bradford­ City in the Intertoto Cup at Valley Parade in August­ 2000. Zenit won the match 3-0
    Is comfortable in many­ positions. He started his career as a right midfielder,­ then as an attacking midfielder and more recently has­ been playing in the ‘second striker’s’ role

    From chuka, on Wed 4 Feb 9:28PM

  19. seagullpatrol2008 on comment 536. you write loads of­ rubbish, for you to say Aston Villa have players that­ are not proffessionals is absolutely­ ridiculous,preposterous and laughable. which player in­ this day and age in the PL that is not a proffessional.­ please show us the builders or teachers in Aston Villa.

    From chuka, on Wed 4 Feb 9:20PM

  20. HE's a class player GO ARSENALLLLLLLLLLLLLL

    From denis.clarke3, on Wed 4 Feb 8:47PM
Sort comments by: Most recent

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account