‘This is the Russian way’: Arshavin cannot force his move to Tottenham

Andrei Arshavin was planning to use dirty tactics to convince his club, Zenit St Petersburg to let him join Tottenham for a reasonable transfer fee, but it has now emerged that the player’s action has only decreased the possibility that his club will sell him to Tottenham.

Unlike most football teams around the world, Zenit refuse to be bullied around by their own players. In a report in The Independent, the player’s agent describes the relation between Zenit and Arshavin:

“This is the Russian way. Nothing will change because this is the old Soviet Union way. For the Russian sports establishment the desires of a player mean absolutely nothing. They are the big bosses. It is a dictatorship. He is a slave.”

Tottenham had hoped to buy Arshavin for about £19 million, but Zenit are demanding more for their star playmaker who has wowed Europe with his three performances at Euro 2008.

[Source: The Independent]