Barcelona Set To Rejoin Arshavin Race

The Catalan giants were put off when it was reported that the Russian side wanted €30m for the 27-year-old and announced that they were prepared to look elsewhere, according to Sport.

Arshavin has now returned from an extended holiday amid stories from his agent that several English teams are interested and Zenit recognise that they are only going ot have a disgruntled player on their hands.

After stating publicly that he dreams of playing for the Blaugrana, a deal looked set to be pushed through only for the clubs to fail to agree on a fee.

Barça's opening bid of €15m was rejected out of hand and when negotiations failed to see any movement the player looked to have missed on his chance of playing at Camp Nou.

Arsenal and Chelsea have both been linked from England while Tottenham are also said to now be interested and are ready to offer €18m to Zenit and €3m-a-season to Arshavin.

If that bid is seen to be a starting point for talks rather than dismissed, Barcelona will most certainly rejoin the chase and put forward a fresh amount of their own.

One spanner that could be put in the works for the would-be suitors is Zenit's plan to offer Arshavin a new contract and make him the highest paid sportsman in Russia with a €5m-a-year deal.

The club do not need to sell and do not need the transfer fee with all the speculation and rumour appearing to be being driven by then media and, arguably, Arshavin's agent.

Lucas Brown, Goal.com