Arshavin laments loss of star duo

Arsenal attacker Andrei Arshavin believes the recently departed Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri are ‘irreplaceable’.

Fabregas and Nasri left for Barcelona and Manchester City respectively in August, weakening Arsene Wenger’s squad as they try to mount a challenge for the English Premier League title.

Arshavin, 30, believes the pair cannot be replaced, despite Wenger bringing in several players to try and fill their places.

“The loss of Fabregas and Nasri is very significant,” Arshavin told Russian newspaper Sport.

“When sitting on the bench during the Udinese game, I told (Nicklas) Bendtner that we have no players who can feed (Robin) van Persie or use the strong sides of other forwards. Bendtner said that only (Barcelona’s) Xavi could have replaced Cesc.”

“I’m glad I had the opportunity to play with such a great footballer. Some are irreplaceable.”

After the departures of Fabregas and Nasri, Wenger brought in midfielders Mikel Arteta and Yossi Benayoun, forward Park Chu-Young and defenders Per Mertesacker and Andre Santos.

Arshavin said Arsenal would be forced to play differently with their new signings and was unsure whether they could challenge title contenders Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea.

“With Arteta and other players in his position, we will play different football from that of (the) Cesc and Samir period,” he said.

“It’s difficult to say whether Arsenal can fight with the Manchester clubs and Chelsea, but those teams look very intimidating.”

Arsenal are yet to record a win this Premier League campaign and host Swansea City on Saturday.