Arsene Wenger confirms Andrey Arshavin set to stay at Arsenal

There were rumours that the 30-year-old could move back to a Russian club with their transfer window still open, but the Frenchman insisted the attacker will be staying

3 Feb 2012 15:26:00

By Miles Chambers

More On :  Arsenal FC, Arsène Wenger
Arsen Wenger - Arsenal
Arsen Wenger - Arsenal

Arsene Wenger has confirmed that Arsenal forward Andrey Arshavin will stay with the Premier League club despite links with Anzhi.

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Goal.com exclusively revealed earlier this week that the Russia international wished to remain at the Emirates Stadium, even though a transfer remained a possibility with the Russian transfer window still open.

The 30-year-old has not been a regular for the Gunners this season and has failed to impress when he has played.

However, Wenger told reporters on Friday: “For me, no [Arshavin will not be leaving]”

The Frenchman also clarified injury-related questions regarding the fitness of winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and left-back Kieran Gibbs.

He said: “We have a little problem with Oxlade-Chamberlain that we have to check today [Friday] because his knee jarred a little bit and we will see how he has recovered from it.

“Gibbs is nearly ready but what he lacks a little bit is confidence. He has not played since the beginning of October.

“He had two surgeries so I will have a little chat with him. He maybe needs a game with the reserves, I do not know yet.”

Wenger went on to reveal that he could make some changes to his side when they host Blackburn Rovers on Saturday, after a disappointing draw with Bolton in midweek.

He added: “A little bit yes because we gave a lot on Sunday against Villa and gave a lot against Bolton on Wednesday. I am thinking about it at the moment, yes.”

The Gunners have never been as low as seventh at this point in the season in Wenger’s 16 years of Arsenal management but, when asked about this, the 62-year-old put a positive spin on the statistic.

He continued: “The fact that we have never been in this position is rather a credit to me in 16 years so I do not take that as blame.

“I take that as fantastic consistency, and that is the most difficult thing at the top level.

“I believe we played 15 years on the trot in the Champions League and we play in 10 days in the last 16 of the Champions League.

“We want to come back in the Champions League position in the league, we want to prepare properly for the next round of the FA Cup and I wish that in the next 16 years it will be exactly the same for the club and that the fans will be happy. 

“I am here to make all of the fans happy and when I do not manage to do it I am, of course, not happy. But what is most important is that we have our fans happy at the end of the season.”

Arsenal resurrected their season at the end of September after a woeful start and were heading back towards a Champions League spot before another poor run of form has seen them drop off from the top four.

But Wenger hopes his side can recapture their better form despite confidence in the squad having been dented.

He said: “We lost three games and then the confidence drops a little bit.

“But overall we have shown a great response against Aston Villa where we came back with a fantastic 3-2 win and I feel that on Wednesday night we deserved to win the game. 

“Overall I feel this team is strong mentally with a good spirit and attitude. We are ready for a fight and that is the most important thing.”

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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
20:06 BST
So, that game gave a few players a chance to impress for England. Who did/didn't? Will Welbeck start against France? Or Carroll? Or Defoe?!

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.
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