Andrey Arshavin will reject approach from Anzhi and stay at Arsenal until the summer - agent

The 30-year-old forward is keen to prove his critics wrong, recover his form and fulfill his ambitions of winning trophies at the Emirates Stadium before departing

1 Feb 2012 12:42:00

More On :  Anzhi Makhachkala, Arsenal FC, Andrey Arshavin
EPL - Arsenal v Liverpool, Andrey Arshavin
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EXCLUSIVE
By Wayne Veysey | Chief Correspondent

Andrey Arshavin is committed to staying at Arsenal until the summer and is not interested in joining moneybags Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala this month, his agent has told Goal.com.

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Anzhi chiefs have made an approach to the Premier League club in an attempt to land the attacking midfielder for a cut-price fee before the Russian transfer window closes on February 24.

But Arshavin’s representative Phil Smith revealed that the Russia captain, who is contracted to Arsenal until June 2013, has no interest in a move before the end of the season.

“Andrey doesn’t think it is time to go back yet,” Smith told Goal.com. “He still feels he has a lot to do at Arsenal. He wants to win something, fulfil his ambitions and recover his form both for Arsenal and ahead of the European Championships.

“The Russia window lasts until 24th February and a guy representing Anzhi has made a tentative approach. But Andrey is not going to talk to the Russians because he doesn’t want to leave and Arsenal don’t want him to go, either. A lot depends on the summer.”

Arshavin has lost his regular place in the starting XI for Arsenal this season and his form has deteriorated so dramatically that he was jeered by home supporters at the Emirates Stadium when he came off the bench and replaced Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain against Manchester United 10 days ago.

The Russian, who usually plays on the left of Arsenal’s front three, has been far less productive than in his first two-and-a-half seasons at the club. He has scored only two goals this term, and only one in the league, which came against Swansea City in September.

Anzhi have identified the capture of proven and experienced Premier League stars as a key component in their quest to become a European superpower.

The club, who are bankrolled by billionaire businessman Suleyman Kerimov, have been sounding out a number of the established English elite about the potential availability of their players in the winter transfer window.

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England 1-0 Belgium, Netherlands 4-0 Northern Ireland - follow all the international action LIVE! ahead of Euro 2012
With countries across the continent gearing up for their final warm-up games ahead of Euro 2012, join us for all the action from Saturday's friendlies. Get in touch with us via Twitter with your reaction.

Hosted by Joe Doyle
19:59 BST
Unfortunately for Northern Ireland, they are trailing the Netherlands 4-0 at half-time. Looks like that one's all sewn up then.
19:54 BST
We're still getting plenty of Hazard chat on Twitter. A few are now saying that he's not worth the hype, others saying he was brilliant(!?) and others (which I agree with), saying he created much of his own hype. What do you think? Get involved!
19:46 BST
Joe Hart has also been giving his thoughts after the Belgium game: "It was a really tough game, a good run out. I thought we played well, [but] we were a little bit bitty at times.

"But, we came through. Obviously there were a lot of changes so it's good to get the result.

"Belgium are a very, very strong side who are going to be really good in the future. Vincent [Kompany] told me about them and said that they were coming good and I totally agree with him."
19:38 BST
Here's Roy Hodgson's reaction to the result and some injury chat: "I'm very pleased, it's been a hard week and we've used a lot of players. There was a lot of disruption in the second-half with substitutions – some forced upon us, some we wanted to do. But it's still a very good end to the week playing against a good Belgian team here. Arguably even stronger than the Norwegian team we played last week and I've got to be more than happy that we've come out with another victory."

"[Gary] Cahill I suppose is slightly more of a concern for me because it is a jaw injury. We're desperately hoping the CT scan doesn't show any fracture and it's just going to be a bruising situation, which will be bad enough, but won't stop him taking part in the tournament. As far as John's [Terry] concerned he felt his hamstring a little bit. Again it wasn't a major thing when he came off but we still need to scan it just to be 100 per cent sure."

Suffice to say, if Cahill has broken his jaw, he won't play any part in the tournament.
19:35 BST
And another point from today: Eden Hazard wasn't great. Don't think you can judge him on one performance though. What do you think? Is it just a case of too much hype around the Chelsea-bound Belgian?
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