Igor Korneev keen to bring Arsenal FC’s Andrei Arshavin back to the Russian Premier League with Zenit St. Petersburg’s Luciano Spalletti being a long time admirer.
Igor Korneev, Zenit St. Petersburg’s technical director, has registered his interest in signing Arsenal FC’s striker, Andrei Arshavin, in a bid to strengthen the Meshki squad upon Luciano Spalletti’s request.
The fact that Zenit have been struggling upfront prompted the Italian tactician to demand for striking cover from Gazprom, the Meshki owners. News in Russia last week suggested that the former Udinese coach also threatened to quit if they fail to provide noticeable cash injections.
Zenit have not spent big since the capture of Daniel Miguel from Dynamo Moscow for a reported 30 million Euros in 2008. However, they have now accepted Spalletti’s proposal to add a striker and are willing to provide Arshavin a chance to return to his homeland after spending a bleak period at the Emirates stadium.
The 44-year-old director admitted that Zenit need an attacking pair, after seeing his side fail to score in the last two UEFA Champions League matches. However, Zenit somehow managed to earn European progression by drawing the last group stage game against FC Porto.
The former FC Barcelona player believes that Zenit have been lucky to survive in the continental tournament despite the absence of their goal-machine, Aleksandr Kerzhakov, for five group stage matches.
If speculations are to believed, Zenit striker Danko Lazovic is set to leave the Russian outfit during the winter transfer window. His likely departure would see Zenit left with the only striker in the squad, Aleksandr Bukharov and Korneev want a quick solution to the problem.
“I can only repeat that Arshavin is a great player and we have always been interested to bring him back. However we have not made any offer yet" The Russian national was quoted as saying.Arshavin remains one of the finest players to don a Zenit shirt, having scored 76 goals in addition to 109 assists, helping them win the UEFA Cup, Russian Cup and the Russian Premier League.

News source: Bettor
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