There’s been a fair amount of rumours flying around this winter concerning Andrey Arshavin’s future at Arsenal. The little Russian has gradually become a target for the Emirates boo-boys, after a string of lacklustre performances this season. With this being said, one has to ask, has Arshavin’s time at the North London club finally run out?

The Gunners forward has been linked with a move away from the Emirates this January with Juventus, and newly, Zenit St. Petersburg said to be highly keen on the Russian’s services. Arshavin’s agent, Dennis Latcher, recently stated that a move to Turin is not out of the question this winter, but remains optimistic that his client will be an Arsenal player until at least the end of the season. Speaking to Russian online publication Lifesports.ru, Latcher said:

‘There’s a possibility of Andrey Arshavin’s move to Juventus, but there are two things that can prevent this deal. First, Arsenal can win the Premier League this year. The gold medal of the English league is a dream of any footballer. Second is the financial ability of Juve as Arsenal are demanding no less than $26 million (£17m) to release Arshavin. It’s difficult for me to comment on certain items because he is a player who still has two-and-half-years on his contract with Arsenal and there are no formal offers.’

Latcher finished off by saying:

‘In any case, I think it’s just speculation. Juventus could have taken Arshavin two-and-a-half years ago, but they didn’t want to. The player is happy in London. There could also be possibilities to move in January but, I repeat, we are talking about a player under contract and for which currently there is nothing concrete.’

Taking all this into account, it seems very unclear as to where Arshavin’s long-term future lies. However, the diminutive forward is highly likely to stay at Arsenal until the summer, after Wenger declared his admiration for the Russian playmaker. However, due to his inconsistency and growing unpopularity amongst the Arsenal fans this season, I decided to conduct a poll on Gunnersphere.com. I asked the simple question to my readers: Has Arshavin’s time at Arsenal run out? Yes or no.

The outcome of this poll was extremely close. Results showed that 55% of votes cast (98 in total) believe that Arshavin’s time has indeed run out at the Emirates. However, 45% of voters still consider the Russian to have a future as an Arsenal player. As you can see the difference is marginal, and clearly shows that fans are split on the matter. In my opinion, I believe Arshavin still has something to offer to the North London club. Ok, he hasn’t been on form this season and at times appears lazy, but when he’s on his game, he is clearly one of Arsenal’s best players.

Arshavin simply needs to show more desire and heart to get the Arsenal boo-boys off his back. If he can do this, then this will all be forgotten instantaneously. Nonetheless, the jury remains out on the matter.