Arshavin Transfer Updates Galore & More....
Thursday, 31 July 08, 03:01 PM · Comments (28)
Well it started well enough. The reply to the self induced hysteria. The word from Topspurs.com leaked out Wednesday afternoon and rather amusingly I lost my position as Transfer Info Weasel as others lept into the breach to declare the they were really well connected and the war was over. VE day. Or VR (Victory In Russia) Day.
Needless to say, even the SSN yellow ticker clearly marked DAVID BENTLEY CONFERENCE didn't deter the emotional hoards waiting for Levy (by remote control from Mother Russia) to pull away the sash and reveal Arshavin, Veloso, Capel, Villa and Bentley all beaming from wig to chin like some NATO sponsored human pyramid.
What they got was Bentley singing a medley of toe tappin' tunes.
I Was Born Under A Wandrin' Star (of David) / It's Alright Baby's Coming Back (And I Don't Even Care He's Played For Arsenal) / We Are Family (I Got All My Season Ticket Holders With Me).
That and the copper bottomed threat of a Derby goalie 'in the post.'
Arshavin then.
Me fishing expedition of last week continued a little this, to little purpose other than to shed more gloomy light on the horse trading of footballer transfers.
First up, I discovered that Vladimir was... in fact Vladimir Hunrov. Boxing manager. Fight fans may know him as the fella that looks after Russian heavyweight Alexander Povetkin. So like Christopher Walken in True Romance. "That should answer your 'how full of sh*t am I?' question."
So after numerous missed calls and endless txts I asked Vlad what the deal was. The media in Europe was full of 'Arshavin to Tottenham.' He was adamant that the deal was far from complete. He even pointed out the Russian media was full of 'my' 'move' to CSK, which was a fair point well made. He tried to reassure me.
"You are long time in this profession and have become a victim of PR. If you ever see Arshavin in a Tottenham T- Short (sic) I will eat it. "
The offer to come to St Petersburg was now being pushed in earnest. And the offer made to quick fix some visas. I replied,
"My Margaret can fix visa very quickly, her son Mark is very well connected. I wish my son Jamie was. I will advise if there is a problem. As it happens, I will need a new a new sheepskin leather for the winter. Presumably you can point us in the right direction?"
Vladimir claimed that 'The hooligans' (as phrase he had already used to described THFC twice) had in fact tapped Arshavin up... "The hooligans are wrong to contact the player without contacting the club and agent. Your contacts has correct direction - you will have a meeting with director of club and agent. In sport business there are certain principles and for me they are undoubtable. It is very unprofessional to contact the sportsman who is not free directly."
And so a schedule was proposed. "Please book your arrival to Russia on the 7th. First meeting will be in Moscow. 8th will go to Saint Petersburg. I beleive it is better if you book hotel in Moscow from 7th to 11th, and if you stay overnight in Saint Petersburg, Pavel will help you with booking."
Salary would be discussed in Moscow. There were 'tax reasons' but rest assured the salary would not be an issue. Hospitality was offered including the enjoyment of 'national drinks'. I made a remark that we'd both have nose's like Sir Alex's after my visit. I mention this to make sense of the next quote.
Vlad then asked,"I want to ask you for one impossible thing. During first match that Arshavin will play for Portsmouth I would like to be near you at the trainers bench:-) If we will play with Manchester United, we will win in terms of colors of our noses."
An interesting footnote in the penultimate email was this where Vladimir Bistrov was recommended. "Also I would like to give you a golden key. Arshavin is very friendly with Bistrov. Please think about him. They have the same agent, but he will be much cheaper. I've read today that you want Bilyaletdinov. Bistrov is very brave and quick. I do not want to recommend - it is your job to form a team, just share an idea. But how many times I have seen Arshavin - as many times he was with Bistrov."
I concluded my expedition by announcing that my Chairman had changed his mind and felt the money was excessive. I had tried to reason with him but to no avail. 'What can I do, mate?'
The last I got back was an understandably shirty email spelling out his anger at losing his £2.5 mill "...worse reputation in front of agent and director of top Russian club making and cancelling the offer."
Oh well. Nothing earth shattering there. But interesting that the Director clearly had no qualms in dealing with the 'agent proper' (Dennis Lahter) and a third party. My intention was two sniff out the credibility of all the rumours and ultimately to walk away blaming the price - the only excuse that might directly benefit Tottenham.
The latest update is this. Gazeta a Russian website is this morning running Dennis Lahter quotes as follows," "Andrew really decided to go to the Tottenham" "Coach Ramos Huande personally telephoned Andrew" and "Ramos gave Andrei key position in his team."
Done deal? No. But more evidence in the case file to support Levy & Co being formally charged with running a bloody good football club. And here's a name to not scratch from the defeinately maybe list... Pavlyuchenko.
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In the quiet words of the virgin Mary "come again"?
8 mil difference between the clubs. Can't see this one happening. Can't see us going above 18 and I don't see zenit dropping 6. Hopefully they're bluffing.
Fantastic work Harry. 
So, in plain English, as I got a bit lost in all the quotes from one agent and another - are we still close to signing or have we turned our backs on Solskjaer mark 2?
Beat football journalism. Delightful rumour based fiction.
But Pavlyukalike? I dont want. Still better than some other supposedly inbound though. What's a Milito anyway?
28 Comments · Add yours
genius!! any word on velosu harry? are we realy in for him?
So Arshavin aint coming from what I read from above?