Hot on the heels of Sepp Blatter’s comments that Christiano Ronald is a ‘modern day slave’, football has another. Andrei Arshavin has decided to go on strike because his current club Zenit St Petersburg are pricing him out of a move to Tottenham.
Spurs have agreed personal terms with the player but they will not meet Zenit’s ridiculous asking price of over £20m.
Arshavin’s agent Dennis Lachter said;
"This is the Russian way.”
"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."
I realise this is another ‘agent special’ but it does make me angry. I understand Arshavin and his agent are desperate to make the move happen but you cannot blame Zenit for trying to get the most money they can for their star player. Spurs have done the same with Carrick and Keane and are currently in a battle over Berbatov’s transfer fee with Man Utd.
I’m sure the deal will still go through but I’d have a lot more respect for Arshavin if he just got his head down and got on with training. Fair enough if he wants to let the press know the situation but don’t throw your toys out of the pram.
What happens if he has an amazing first season for Spurs, we finish in the top 4 but Real Madrid come knocking. Spurs don’t want to sell, does he go on strike again?
Did Arshavin not choose to play for Zenit St Petersburg? Did Ronald not choose to sign with Manchester Utd? Both players must have signed contracts to keep them at their respective clubs for a set period of time.
Some people need to look up the definition of the word slave…
Thursday, 7 August 2008
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18 comments:
I think theres a lot more to this story though. For a start, there was a verbal agreement between the club and Andrei that they would accept a bid of around £12.5m if it came in. Then Zenit went back on their word and have been asking for about twice as much. What else should he do? He cleqarly wants to move, we've offered far more than any other club for him and yet Zenit wont budge. I'm sure Levy will sort it out when he gets back from Florida.
pre-season?
clearly Zenit are mid-season.
Going into the last month of the transfer window and Levy's on holiday? Good work son.
spot on
if he had an agreement with them that he could leave 4 a certain price after the euros which i think he did because dick advocate said as much after the uefa cup final he should be allowed 2 leave 4 at least roughly that price
Exactly, he had a agreement that he could go to one of the big leagues.
They have Welshed on him, what else can he do??
why is levy in florida??
surly he should be getting us a CB, DM, and 1 or 2 CF before the start of the season.
I say keep berba (if poss) or sell him to barca and get eto + cash and get arshavin for 15/17M and we will break the top 4 this season!! hopefully at the expense of liverpool COYS!!
This log entry is very one-sided my friend.
This verbal agreement is probably a part of the basis on which Arshavin has been playing for Zenit.
I think you rightly mentioned "get his head down" though, as Carrick did for us.
The communication between board and player sound appalling here.
This deal aint going through this transfer window.
all this talk of verbally agreeing sht means nothing
Zenit have told you mugs 19mil, now either cough up or stop your fucking whinging
persoanlly I think he is not the answer for spuds, but I'd love it if you wasted another load of money on him
cuntchops
I'm assuming you're aware of Russian 'football' politics? My first concern with this article is that Barca, Arsenal, and now Spurs are being pushed away by Zenit. Holding out for the best price is deifferent from making the move impossible by asking for a ridiculous price.
My second concern is, player's are human and seek ways to let their frustration be known. The climate of Russian football is different, if negotiations dont allow the player to stress his position than his actions on the pitch are his only alternative form of protest.
his agent was also emphasizing the way in which the russian's operate specific to FSU. the word was rrognly used by step..and shouldnt be used at all ..but this is different with these russian thugs...
Think the "gentlemans agreement" was based on teams in the Champions League.
Levy's in the US talking to Barca representatives thats all Im going to say for now.
Etoo got told to find a club by the 12th August otherwise he stays
One good season in the PL for spurs could get him to a big club again
cuntchops
As a Spurs fan it shocks me how our fans seem to accept these double standards. If a club tries to unsettled one of our players (Keane, Berba, etc) we all get on our high horses. Yet we're more than happy to do it to clubs we consider smaller than us and assume that just because these players want to join us it's ok for them to behave as they like. Arshavin is ok to go on strike because Russian culture is different to ours. Chimbonda is ok to throw his toys out the pram because Wigan are a small club. Bentley can demand a move and train on his own because Blackburn are going nowhere. If we want the best players from "lesser sides" to step up to us, we have to also appreciate that we're not top of the tree and our top stars, if in demand will also want the chance to better themselves. Until we're in the Champions League and competing for serious silverware we've got to stop arguing this kind of behaviour from our targets is acceptable and then pi$$ing and moaning when the likes of Berba fancies a shot at playing for the European Champions. And yes, I'm a Yid. Just a realistic one.
Forget Eto. Lets get Henry, a proven PL star, and abt 10-12 mil and send Berba to Barca.
I'd love to see Arshavin at Spurs. I'm not sure how much to read into these 'strike' and 'slave' reports being thrown around the media, but it seems to me the guy really wants to play Premiership football and at WHL.
Let's get the price sorted and his signature on the dotted line.
If he can produce the form he showed at the Euros against the Dutch then he should do well in the Prem.
If we can keep Berba too, then we're looking good, but let's no assume 4th spot is guaranteed.
It's a long season and we need to be more consistent, not just have good players.
I really hope we can break the monopoly of the 'big 4'.
COYS!
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