About

Andrei Sergeyevich Arshavin (Russian: Андрей Сергеевич Аршавин) (born 29 May 1981 in Leningrad) is a Russian international football forward who currently plays for Arsenal of the English Premier League.

Arshavin is a versatile second striker who can also play as an attacking midfielder and winger.

He has been capped 41 times for the Russia national football team since 2002.

Background

He started playing football at the age of 7. Andrey is a Smena football school graduate (coaches V. Vinogradov and S. Gordeev).

In 1999-2000 Andrey played for FC Zenit reserve team. He made his debut for the first squad in the Intertoto Cup away game against Bradford, which FC Zenit won 3:0. In his first game in the starting eleven Andrey justified the hopes of the head coach of that time Yuiy Morozov.

Andrey started as a right midfielder, his duet with Aleksandr Kerzhakov became well known in Russian Championship, especially in seasons 2001, 2003 as FC Zenit won medals.

He says that his hobby is creating goals for the team and it doesn’t matter whether he scores himself or assists someone.

It was Petrjela who decided that Arshavin should play at the edge of the attack in the middle of 2003, and Andrey scored two goals in his debut match as a forward against FC Uralan. This new role seemed to inspire Andrey and up to now Arshavin managed to score 58 goals (he celebrated his first goal in the match against Fakel (Voronezh) and his 50th goal in the home match against Luch-Energia).

Moreover, his goals in the very end of the UEFA Cup away game against FC AEK and FC Olympique de Marseille gave FC Zenit one of the most exciting events in the Club’s history – UEFA Cup quarter-finals.

Capped for the Russian youth team, where his partner was Aleksandr Anukov, who is also in the first squad now, Andrey made his debut in the national squad in May 2002 against Belarus.

Having scored 9 goals for the international team, Andrey set up a new club record of goals for the national team. Besides, he became FC Zenit best striker in Russian championships 2005, 2006.

Every year Andrey is on top of the 33-best Russian footballers list: he became number 1 in 2005 and 2006, and number 2 in 2001, 2002, 2004.

2005 Andrey became the first football player in Russia to be elected FIFA-Kinderdorf Ambassador.

( source: Zenit FC's official site )

Club Football

Zenit

Arshavin graduated from Smena football school. In 1999 he joined FC Zenit Saint Petersburg and from then till early 2000 he played for Zenit's farm club, Zenit-2, in the Second Division.

In 2000, he was included in the Zenit first-team squad, making his debut in a 3–0 away win over English side Bradford City in the Intertoto Cup.He played in various positions on the field, starting as a right midfielder, then as an attacking midfielder and finally adopted the second striker's role playing on a flank or behind a target man. He won the Russian Premier League Award for the player of the season largely because of his ability to play well as a winger, playmaker and as a striker.

In the 2007 Russian Premier League season Arshavin guided his Zenit St Petersburg side to the title, starting all 30 matches — scoring 10 goals and providing 11 assists along the way. It was the club's first league title since claiming the now defunct Soviet Top League in 1984. He was a key player during Zenit's 2008 UEFA Cup triumph and was named Man of the Match in the final.

In October 2008, Arshavin was nominated for the prestigious Ballon d'Or award, along with 29 others including compatriot Yuri Zhirkov.

Arshavin's performances in the UEFA Cup and European Championship brought him to the attention of several European clubs. In June 2008 FC Barcelona had their €15m offer for the player turned down by Zenit. Tottenham's £16m offer in August, also fell short of matching Zenit's £22m asking price. Zenit's unwillingness to release the player for anything less than the initial asking price, caused discontent from both Arshavin, who said the 2008 season was definitely going to be his last with Zenit, and his agent Dennis Lachter who described the club's transfer policy as "barbaric".

Arsenal

During the January 2009 transfer window Arshavin was persistently pursued by Premier League club Arsenal. On 2 February, transfer deadline day, Andrei Arshavin had flown into England and was staying in a Hertfordshire hotel, just a few miles from the Arsenal training ground. At around 10am, he left the hotel and was rumoured to be heading back to Russia, but with less than an hour of the transfer window left a bid from Arsenal was accepted by Zenit. By this point he had agreed personal terms and passed a medical, but a payoff sum by Arshavin himself to Zenit was supposedly holding up the deal.

The deal was further complicated by poor weather in England which had delayed the Premier League's registration process, eventually forcing the league to extend the deadline beyond 5pm on 2 February.The deal was not confirmed until the following day, 3 February, nearly 24 hours after the transfer deadline had passed, with Arsenal announcing "a long-term deal" for an undisclosed fee. On the same day Zenit's official web site claimed that Zenit received an official FA letter confirming Andrei Arshavin's registration as an English Premier League player. He will wear the number 23 shirt, last worn by Sol Campbell. Because he played for Zenit in the 2008–09 Champions League he is cup-tied and cannot play for Arsenal in the knockout phase.

International Football

Arshavin debuted for the national team on May 17, 2002 in a match against Belarus. On March 24, 2007 he was the Russia captain in a Euro 2008 qualifier against Estonia.

He was included in Russia's Euro 2008 squad by manager Guus Hiddink, despite being unable to play in the first two group matches due to suspension. He announced his return by scoring Russia's second goal in their third group game against Sweden at Tivoli Neu, Innsbruck, which helped his team qualify for the quarter finals.

Arshavin scored Russia's third goal in extra-time against the Netherlands in their quarter final tie, helping them to qualify for the semi final. He later received the Man of The Match accolades.

( source: Wikipedia )

International Goals

Awards and Honours

- 2001: Russian Championship bronze prizewinner

- 2003: vice-champion of Russia

- 2003: Premier-League Cup holder

- 2006: Best player of Russia award and Russian National Squad leader award

- 2007: Champion of Russia

- 2008: Possessor of the Super Cup of Russia

- 2008: Possessor UEFA Cup 2007/2008

Personal Awards

Career Statistics

M = Matches, G = Goals, A = Assists

Personal Info

Wife / Girlfriend

Sponsors

Important Links

Official Site of Andrei Arshavin
Andrei Arshavin career stats
Andrei Arshavin News in English
Profile

References