BARCELONA have made an offer to sign Russia playmaker Andrei Arshavin from Zenit St Petersburg, the Russian premier league side said yesterday.
"We have received an official offer from Barcelona to buy Andrei but we will discuss it only after he returns from Euro 2008," Konstantin Sarsania, an adviser to Zenit's president, said.
Sarsania declined to give any details but media report
s put the Spanish club's bid at £12 million.
Barcelona did not confirm the offer but Arshavin's agent Dennis Lachter, speaking to Spanish television station La Sext, said a bid had been lodged.
"The transfer should be around 25 million," he told the station. "It's time for him (Arshavin) to look for new challenges, and this is a great opportunity for him.
"Everything depends on how interested Barcelona are and how much the player wants to play there.
"There are not that many clubs in the world that can match his pay at the moment, but the main reasons for leaving will be sporting ones."
A self-confessed Barcelona fan, Arshavin has become a real revelation at Euro 2008, winning widespread acclaim for his creative play and cunning moves.
He helped transform a drab and defensive Russian side into an attractive attacking outfit, earning him strong interest from several leading European clubs, including Arsenal and Chelsea, according to local and international media.
After missing Russia's first two games through suspension, he returned for their final group match against Sweden, scoring a goal and setting up the other to lead his team to a 2-0 win and sealing a quarter-final berth.
Arshavin also sparkled in a 3-1 extra time quarter-final victory over the much fancied Netherlands, assisting on the second goal and scoring the third himself that earned him the man of the match award for the second consecutive game.
The 27-year-old, who also led his club Zenit to victory in the Uefa Cup final against Rangers last month, has said on several occasions he wanted to move abroad after the Euro 2008 finals.
The full article contains 346 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
