The most on-off transfer saga of the summer is now officially off as Spurs miss out
This transfer saga has been rumbling on ever since the end of the European Championships in July. Tottenham's lengthy pursuit of Zenit St Petersburg striker Andrei Arshavin is now officially off after the Zenit boss Dick Advocaat admitted Spurs were £6 million short with their bid.
The Russian international claimed last week that he had agreed terms with Spurs and now it was just a case between the two clubs to agree a fee for his services. The 27-year old was valued at £22 million by the Russian giants but Spurs boss Juande Ramos was only willing to spend £16 million.
Advocaat was quoted as saying "Tottenham offered £16m and that's not enough, so that's the end of it.""They (Tottenham) had several weeks of time to buy him and they did not offer £22m like everybody has been writing, but just £16m,". "I think that Arshavin costs more than £16m."
This is obviously bad news for Spurs fans and even Premier League fans because I feel Arshavin would of been a tremendous addition to both. His skill on the ball is second to none and the way in which he runs at defences is top class. Maybe Spurs will now have to go out and sign an Ashton or a Huntelaar.