Vladimir Putin ‘pressured Arsenal to pay double for switch’ – they usually agreed
Vladimir Putin as soon as made Arsenal cough up double the quantity they needed to pay for a participant.
The declare was made in Jon Smith’s 2016 autobiography, ‘The Deal’, the place it is instructed Putin wasn’t impressed with Arsenal’s first provide to signal Andrey Arshavin in 2009. The up-and-comer was dazzling for Zenit St. Petersburg and hyped as Russia’s ‘subsequent huge factor’ on the time, main the Gunners to investigate.
Zenit is run by the state-owned firm, Gazprom, which implies Putin had a say within the huge transfers of his favorite membership. So, the Russian President made positive Arsenal paid what he thought Arshavin, now 42, was value earlier than letting him be part of the Premier League.
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Smith wrote Arsenal solely needed to pay £7million for Arshavin, however Putin thought he was value nearer to £15m. Putin may delay the deal till Arsenal agreed to his worth, and it wasn’t sorted out till Deadline Day in January 2009.
The ebook additionally stated Arsene Wenger even supplied Zenit a spot at that summer time’s Emirates Cup pre-season match. It was claimed then-shareholder Alisher Usmanov was additionally requested to make use of his contacts in Russia to attempt to get the deal performed.
Who is Arsenal’s all-time cult hero? Let us know within the feedback part under.
(Image: Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
Putin lastly had his means as Arshavin made the transfer to the Emirates Stadium on the final day of the window for rather less than £15m. He went on to make 145 appearances for Arsenal, netting a complete of 31 objectives and offering a further 46 assists throughout four-and-a-half seasons.
Arshavin additionally famously netted 4 objectives in a single recreation as Arsenal performed out an exciting 4-4 draw away at Liverpool in April 2009. That consequence alone can be sufficient to cement his place in north London lore for a lot of followers, even when he fell wanting expectations at instances.
(Image: @andrey.arshavin10/Instagram)
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He ultimately returned to Zenit in the summertime of 2013 on a free switch earlier than lastly hanging up his boots in 2019 following a stint in Kazakhstan. Arshavin can be remembered as one thing of a cult determine at Arsenal, although his legacy would possibly look much more useful had Putin not stepped in.
