Arsenal fans can finally rejoice, and Aston Villa and Chelsea fans can start to worry, because Russian playmaker Andrei Arshavin has officially joined Arsenal. The English Premier League confirmed the move, which completes one of the craziest transfer dramas in recent memories.
How much was the transfer? Reports put the fee at £16.9 million, not a bad amount.
The deal also marks the first completed major transfer by former MLS deputy commissioner Ivan Gazidis, who left MLS to become Arsenal's CEO last year.
Now that it is finally over (we hope), what do you think of Arshavin joining Arsenal? Think he's the perfect player for their system? Will he help Arsenal move back into the Top Four? Are you so frustrated by this whole process that you won't believe he's a Gunner until he walks on the field in an Arsenal uniform?
Share your thoughts below.
Arsenal are not making this pick based purely on Euro 2008. It’s hardly as if he “appeared out of nowhere” in that tournament.
As a Gunner, I understand this move completely. We should be able to be more dominant in attack with Arshavin, and we should have a top-4 finish (barring more significant injuries).
I don’t think an Arsenal top-4 finish would come at the expense of Villa either…
ha those who say arshavin is not that good clearly did not watch Euro 2008
Yeah… he’s not nearly as good as this hullabaloo suggests. Enjoy the disappointment, gooners
Arshavin is a modest improvement over Rosicky or Walcott (better to be sure, but not by a whole lot). So when their biggest concern is the centre of the pitch Arsenal go out and grab another winger.
Yeah if I was Villa or Chelsea this wouldn’t scare me too much…in fact, Chelsea’s lone uh…eh loan move for Ricardo Quaresma added more to their squad when it came to filling in a hole than Arshavin does for Arsenal.
i dont understand this move at all. arsenal needs a holding mid to replace flamini… they have more than enough attacking players. i dont think arshavin is overrated at all, he dominated russia for years and did a hell of a job in the euros, but hes not going to lift arsenal back into the champions league.
he’s probably gonna leave after a season for spain anyway… him and cesc.
tj, hilarious now we only need to substitute a 3 point line for the 18 yard box and its over
please no more Arshavin news! PLEASE GOD!!
Looking at Arsenal’s results against Cardiff, Everton and West Ham, where they gave up only 1 goal over three games, yet scored only one goal, who can really say that Arsenal could by pass offensive help?
when did Kyle Korver start playing soccer?
Ives,
I love the “officially,” is that a subtle reference to all the guys who have been taking jibes at you for reporting the news before it’s “official”?
Hey I’m a stock market guy, personally I like to get the news ASAP, not wait for three days until it is official and old news!
Keep up the great work!
Great, I’m curious to see what his impact will be. Hopefully he gets Arsenal to be more competitive with the top clubs in the EPL.
Garrett Podolski is behind two great strikers in Toni and Klose. Podolski is a talented player who needs to go somewhere else. As for Arsenal it’s going to be an interesting race for that 4th spot Aston Villa ain’t giving up without a fight. Arshavin signing makes litte sense due to the fact Walcott and Rosicky are injury prone Arsenal are in need of a creative midfielder to unlock defense right now. I agree they do need a DM Diaby hasn’t fulfilled his potnetial just flashes. If Spurs don’t sign Stephen Appiah I would like to think Wenger would take a chance with him.
He was better than Diego in Euro ’08… but not saying much since the Brazilian’s only play Copa America (except for that idiot Eduardo on Croatia).
Outside of that, Diego all the way. Where was he in WC ’02, EC ’04, WCQ ’06… they didn’t even make it to the finals that year. He’s over-hyped because Russia pushed around England in euro-quals and he had a great Euro Cup.
You know another player who had a great euro (and even better WC)… Podolski and look where it got him.
Now all we need is to bring in an industrious holding midfielder a la Flamini and a big, dominant center half in the summer and we’ll look like serious title contenders… wait, where have I heard that before?
To be honest, I’m mostly just relieved that this neverending saga is finally over. Not expecting Arshavin to be a world-beater, but he’s a talented and creative player that should help restore some of our attacking flair.
Why should Villa and Chelsea fans start to worry? Even if he settles quickly, he brings nothing that they don’t already have. If they got a rugged defensive midfielder or a quality central defender I would start to worry.
Ðршавин!! Sign of the apocalypse: Wenger opens up checkbook.
He’s better than Diego (though it’s not a great comparison because they are totally different styles of player).
Still, he isn’t what Arsenal need just now.
Wenger will find a way to get the Gunners to finish in the top 4, anyway.
Perfect picture, Ives. Him wearing an all-white ensemble shows us just what part of North London he prefers…
I think he is overrated.
He will be a decent player and will have his moments, but he isn’t the world-beater people make him out to be, and he certainly isn’t on the same level as Diego (mentioned above) or other comparable players.
A good signing still, but people expecting him to become Kaka or Messi or Gerrard are going to be disappointed. He fills a need for Arsenal though and the fee wasn’t too bad.
Won’t make much of a difference in my opinion. The problem is we get scored on and play down to inferior competition, talent-wise. We need a mudder, a big strong man in the middle of the field (CDM, CB) that can command in the air and stonewall opponents counters. We didn’t get him, Arsene shows no interest in doing so anytime soon and there won’t be any new hardware at the Emirates until its done.
Potential for more goals for is nice, but the reality of too many goals against is too damaging.
I don’t know that much about him, but I was never that impressed with what i saw.
I’m just bitter though….Spurs managed to sign half of the world’s pro players without coming clsoe to addressing the real needs at DL and ML.
This is a vital acquisition, given that Cesc Fabregas seems to be playing with one foot in Barcelona. If Fabregas ends up staying at Arsenal, the acquisition of Arshavin still makes a lot of sense – Arshavin is a better goal-scoring threat than Cesc is. The two of them together will allow Wenger to play a 4-3-3 with a triangle midfield (with a stronger defensive midfielder, like Xavi-Iniesta-Toure at Barca, or another pure center-mid like Rosicky to look like Deco-Xavi-Iniesta of the glory years) plus three forwards (from Walcott, Van Persie, Nasri, Denilson, Eduardo da Silva, Adebayor (lone striker)), OR go with a 4-5-1 for a more defensive posture with suitable 2-way players on the wings.
Which leaves Wenger with the problem of finding outstanding centerbacks who could make any of this possible.
Ov-er. Rat-ed. Clap Clap clapclapclap.
Not to mention that he’ll be so worn out that he’ll do nothing this year for the scum. Not worth the hassle, IMO.
whatever
Ives, I’m going to have to respectfully disagree with you. I don’t think Arshavin will have the impact you think he will. In my opinion, Arsenal needs another centerhalf and defensive midfielder more than they need another attacking midfielder. Plus, besides his couple of good games in the Euros, has this kid really been that good? I’m not doubting his ability, but its not like we are talking about Diego at Werder Bremen who has been a quality player and international for a few years now that we know more about. Plus after this whole long transfer saga, this kid is going to be under alot of pressure to perform at such a big club.
arsenal.com has pictures of him holding the jersey
FINALLY