Loading ...Aug 06 2008
Andrei Arshavin Goes on Strike
Zenit St. Petersburg star Andrei Arshavin has gone on strike.
Arshavin and his representation have been working overtime to secure his transfer to Tottenham Hotspur, but Zenit is not wavering in their demand of top dollar for their best player. On the contrary, Zenit’s demand seems to be going up, with their near £22 million demand of last month having morphed into a reported £27 million figure now. Tottenham has never gotten close to the £22 million figure, let alone the £27 million one quoted below. Like Martin O’Neill’s continued pushing of Gareth Barry’s fee, this is doing nothing to foster a deal (which might be exactly the point).
In response, Arshavin has refused to play. The Russian Prince sat on the sidelines as the current league champions bowed out of the Russian Cup with a 1-0 less of Sibir Novosibirsk, a team from outside the Russian Premier League. With Zenit finally pushing out of the cellar and climbing to within shouting distance of first place Rubin Kazan, Arshavin’s strike comes at a critical time in the season. Zenit now sides in seventh pace, just outside of European football qualification, eight points back of the league leaders. With the team’s other scoring threat Pavel Progrebnyak continuing to battle injury concerns, Arashvin’s absence will be felt.
Arshavin’s agent was scheduled for a meeting with the club president today, as he continues to go back and forth between St. Petersburg and London clubs, trying to broker a deal. Zenit’s president, however, canceled the meeting, an apparent reminder to agent, player, and buyer that the club will not be forced to sell. It leaves the sides in a situation out of some kind old, perverse Soviet fairy tale - the player on strike, the owners not talking to the player. Now it is a game of who will blink first, and if the club, which has never been inclined to sell, does not have a change of heart, Arshavin will have to come back to the team before Zenit even considers a sale. Zenit seems hell-bent on not being bulldozed by the player, even if it means compromising their season.
In the interim, Tottenham is forced to use Darren Bent, having already sold Robbie Keane. That looks fine thus far, even though their first real match is still over a week away. They are also unable to see Dimitar Berbatov, to Manchester United or anybody else, not having sufficient players up top. Juande Ramos and Spurs can not be held hostage while Arshavin and Zenit work through this. If they want to be confident in being a top seven team, possibly challenging the top four, it’s time to move on.
If that’s how this is to play out, the only good Arshavin’s strike will do is to end the saga. Unfortunately for him, it will end with him staying in St. Petersburg. In the words of Arshavin’s agent, commenting after the Zenit president canceled the meeting, the chances of the Russian Prince moving to London now seem “very, very weak.”
Quotes
“This is the Russian way. Nothing will change because this is the old Soviet Union way. For the Russian sports establishment the desires of a player mean absolutely nothing. They are the big bosses. It is a dictatorship. He is a slave.” - Dennis Lachter, agent, Andrei Arshavin
Links
Arshavin goes on strike to put Spurs deal in jeopardy
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