Serie-A outfit Lazio were reported to have been ready to launch a January bid for Arsenal midfielder Andrey Arshavin, a player who seems to have all but lost his spark after being signed for around £15 million pounds three years ago from Zenit St. Petersburg.
However, although the cash-strapped Italian club are supposedly interested in the 30-year-old Russian, who only has 18 months left on his Arsenal contract, Lazio sporting director Igli Tare insists it would be very difficult to pull off any kind of deal.
Tare was quoted in the Metro saying:
‘Arshavin is a great player and I think everyone would like to have him in their squad.
‘But I don’t think there is any chance of seeing him in a Lazio shirt. There are a number of reasons why it would be difficult.
‘We have never spoken with Arsenal and perhaps more importantly, I don’t think they would want to part with a top player.’
Arsene Wenger has defended the now out-of-favour striker publicly by insisting he would not let Arshavin leave in the January window. Though the Frenchman did say that the Russian international hasn’t done enough to earn an extension on his contract, so perhaps a summer exit looks more likely:
Wenger said:
‘He is a bit older than [Robin] Van Persie.
‘Sometimes the visual impression you get from a game has been frustrating, but he is very efficient. We can all have big responsibility but we need confidence for what we do.’
Its believed Arsenal are looking for a fee of around £6 million from any perspective buyer for Arshavin, but Lazio are supposedly only willing to offer £3 million for the little Russian.
£3 million for Arshavin, in my opinion, isn’t at all acceptable – no matter how bad he has become.
But it doesn’t look like his contract will be extended as Wenger recently suggested, so I think the best thing to do is to cash in on him in the summer, even if it’s an offer that Wenger isn’t particularly happy with.
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