Spurs transfer target refusing to play for Zenit
Tottenham remain keen on signing Russian manchild Andrei Arshavin, yet they are not so keen on coughing up his club’s £27m asking price. In protest, the 27-year-old refused to help Zenit crash out of the Russian Cup yesterday, and his agent helped paint a picture of the situation without resorting to any stereotypes about Russia’s former political stance:
“Nothing will change because this is the old Soviet Union way. For the Russian sports establishment the desires of the player mean absolutely nothing.
“They are the big bosses. It is a dictatorship. He is a slave.”
To summarise, the club who have stood by Arshavin for his entire career and who have helped make him the player he is today are slave drivers, because quite keen on holding onto a man who is contractually obliged to play for them.
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2 responses so far
1 Brooklyn Hotspur // Aug 7, 2008 at 12:28 pm
It’s not the smartest comment to make considering this summers climate. Unless of course you want maximum exposure to the players situation at Zenit.
The full interview revealed that Zenit had promised the player a move should a bid of 8-10 million come in for him. Since the first bid above this value came in Zenit have continued to move the goal posts. Moving it to 21 and now finally 27 million.
If you agree a player can move after providing years of survice to further his career why then be so obvious in blocking his transfer?
He’s by no means a slave but he’s clearly no Ronaldo in this scenario.
2 MicroMouse // Aug 7, 2008 at 8:32 pm
I’ve heard it was a 9-12.5 million buy out clause. regardless, it was supposedly a verbal agreement, so zenit chose not to follow it. and if it was written, well zenit are owned by gazprom, which is owned by the president of russia. so basically they can tear up any buy-out clause they want.