Arshavin frustrated at move hitch

8:22pm Friday 8th August 2008

Zenit St Petersburg forward Andrei Arshavin has revealed his frustration at the delay over his proposed move to Tottenham.

The UEFA Cup holders have rejected formal bids from Barcelona and Tottenham for Arshavin, and even raised the Russian's price tag to a reported 27 million euros, with the 27-year-old now fearing he has been priced out of the market.

"This price tag has frightened everybody off. Only Tottenham have dared continue negotiations. But as it stands nothing has developed," Arshavin told Sport Express.

"My desire to leave is still as strong, but there is nothing more to do now other than hope for a miracle," he added.

"I understand perfectly well that if I don't move on now, I probably never will. I'm just hoping that one fine morning the bosses at Gazprom will wake up in a good mood and say: 'We've had enough of Arshavin's whining - let's let him go'."

With the prospect of his dream move to Barcelona over for now after the Catalans signed Alexander Hleb, Arshavin has turned his attention to the English Premier League and reiterated his desire to work with Spurs coach Juande Ramos.

"When Tottenham made their offer I was sceptical at first," said Arshavin, whose inspirational performances led Russia to the Euro 2008 semi-finals.

"But after Ramos called me personally and told me that that they were selling Robbie Keane and that he wanted me in his side, the situation changed.

"When a coach shows an interest in you, especially such a renowned and strong coach, then that is already half of the success of any move. I also like the way Tottenham play, so I agreed in principle to join.

"Tottenham have a decent squad with (Luka) Modric, (Dimitar) Berbatov and other players, and the club is fully capable of fighting for a place in the Champions League."

EDITOR'S CHOICE