ARSHAVIN SEALS MOVE

Former Arsenal midfielder Andrei Arshavin, who recently sealed a return to Russia with Zenit St Petersburg, has opened his horror days with the English club in his final few months at the Emirates stadium. Andrei Arshavin was a £ 15 million signing, which is the club record transfer fee for Arsenal, back in 2008. He was coming on the back of a stunning Euro 2008 where he was one of the best players. It did not take long for the Russian to settle at Arsenal, but he had one poor season that started the downfall for his Arsenal career.

In the last few months at Arsenal, he was an unused sub for most of the matches. Arshavin has revealed that it used to push him towards the brink of depression due to not playing at all. He has said that it was an extremely difficult situation to train everyday with the knowledge that he is not going to play anyway. Still, he kept on with it and he is happy now that a move to Zenit St Petersburg has happened. The 32-year-old enjoyed a mixed spell at Arsenal, but he is now looking forward to this spell with the Russian giants.

He has said that any other player with a weak mentality would have crumbled in his situation.

“The fact is I didn’t want to stay in England, this was clear since January. I don’t regret anything, but I had to leave. It was a punishment sat on the bench. To train even though you know you won’t play – it is psychologically difficult. I nearly suffered depression, but I didn’t because I’m mentally strong. The monotony of life there was crushing me. I am very happy to put on Zenit’s shirt again. Of course I want to return to the national team as well,” said Arshavin.