Arsenal ramp up Arshavin pursuit

Arsenal will step-up their bid to sign Andrei Arshavin this week by sending a delegation to eastern Europe in the hope of securing a 20-million-pound deal for the Russian international.

Arshavin is expected to hold another round of talks with Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis with manager Arsene Wenger desperate to land the playmaker before the transfer window closes as hopes of winning silverware begin to fade.

But Wenger could face a battle to keep striker Emmanuel Adebayor at the Emirates.

Adebayor, who scored in his side’s hard-fought 3-1 win at Hull City on Saturday, is a target of AC Milan and Barcelona.

Milan, who are expected to sell Kaka to Manchester City later this week, have untold riches to spend on finding a replacement and want Adebayor at the San Siro.

Arsenal would find a 30-million-pound offer for the Togo international difficult to refuse, but Wenger is more concerned with the thankless task of trying to catch Manchester United at the top of the Premier League table.

Daniel Cousin looked to have denied Arsenal two vital points when he cancelled out Adebayor’s opening goal in the 65th minute.

But the visitors showed their fighting spirit to destroy Phil Brown’s men with two goals in the final eight minutes from Samir Nasri and substitute Nicklas Bendtner.

Arsenal remain six points adrift of United but Wenger said believes his players can still make a fight of it.

“It was a battle but we were on top of the game. We wanted to keep Hull under pressure and this became more difficult but we had the mental resources to come back and win,” said Wenger.

“We kept going. There was extra pressure on us (due to the day’s previous results) and we couldn’t afford to drop points but it’s good that the team could deal with this.

“We are up for it. This team is determined and has a strong belief and we want to finish as high as we can. There could be some surprises in this league.

“Robin Van Persie was outstanding but the team fought very hard. We were very sharp today and we worked so hard.”

When asked if he was concerned Adebayor could be the target of a lucrative bid before the transfer window closes Wenger added: “I’m not worried about that at all, no.”

Hull appear to be in terminal decline and supporters must wonder where their side’s next victory is coming from.

Fighting spirit can count for much but lack of genuine quality looks like being their undoing.

Phil Brown’s side have won just one of their last 13 league games but Brown thought his side had been denied a clear penalty when Johan Djourou flattened substitute Manucho, leaving the player with a cut head.

Brown said: “Brian Horton (assistant manager), who has managed over 1200 games, is calling the challenge ‘assault’. It’s astounding that we are playing a team that’s been in the top four for the last decade and won the title and then a decision like that goes against us.

“Arsenal showed what they are capable of doing in the last ten minutes and it’s given them what looks like being a handsome result. But games can turn on key moments and that was a key moment. But we can still take some positives from this. We will pick ourselves up and go again.”