Wenger still hopeful of clinching Arshavin deal

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger remains upbeat about his club’s prospect of signing Russia international playmaker Andrei Arshavin from Zenit St Petersburg this month. Arshavin’s current club had been holding out for a fee of around £20million for the 27-year-old forward, but the Gunners remain confident of finally being able to broker a deal at a slightly lower level.

Wenger commented: “We are not close to signing anybody, but we know what we want to do. We are not close to making a signing today, so we have no new news. We are in negotiations but we want to respect our principles. I am very hopeful. Days? Yes, because the transfer window will close and we have already crossed halfway”.

“It will be days, but if it doesn’t happen then it doesn’t happen”, he added. “We want to continue to improve and focus on what we can improve here with the players we have”.