Arsenal Signed Andrey Arshavin!!!

Just as I thought that Arsenal was not gonna get Andrey since the agreement was on the brink of collapsing, they did it anyway! Yippee! The Russian agreed on a transfer from Zenit St. Petersburg to Arsenal on the very last day of the transfer window and will don the number 23 shirt, which was left vacant since the departure of Sol Campbell.

Anyway, below is a factfile on the 27 years old midfielder.

FULL NAME: Andrey Sergeyevich Arshavin

NATIONALITY: Russian

BORN: May 29 1981. Saint Petersburg, Russia

AGE: 27

HEIGHT / WEIGHT: 172cm / 62kg

PREVIOUS CLUBS: Zenit St Petersburg (2000– January 2009) 232 appearances (51 goals)

CLUB HONOURS:
2003 Russian Premier League Cup
2007 Russian Premier League
2008 Russian Super Cup
2008 UEFA Cup
2008 UEFA Super Cup

TRANSFER DETAILS: Long-term contract for an undisclosed fee

POSITION: Midfielder

INTERNATIONAL CAREER: Russia (2002 - Present) 41 appearances (15 goals)

INTERNATIONAL DEBUT: May 17 2002 v Belarus (International friendly, in Moscow, Russia) 1-1, Belarus won 5-4 on penalties.

FIRST INTERNATIONAL GOAL: February 13 2003 v Romania (International friendly, in Limassol, Cyprus). Scored third goal in 4-2 Russia victory.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Voted Russian Footballer of the Year in 2006.
Started in all 30 matches in Zenit’s Russian Premier League campaign in 2007, the first time Zenit had won a league title since 1984.
Played a key part in Zenit’s 2008 UEFA Cup winning campaign.
Came on as a half-time substitute in the 2008 UEFA Super Cup victory over Manchester United in Monaco, in August 2008. Zenit won 2-1.
Three impressive performances earned him a place in the ‘EURO 2008 Team of the Tournament’.
Graduated from the Smena football school. In 1999 – 2000, he played for Zenit’s ‘farm club’, Zenit-2 in the Russian Second Division.
Made his full Zenit debut in England, against Bradford City in the Intertoto Cup at Valley Parade in August 2000. Zenit won the match 3-0.
Is comfortable in many positions. He started his career as a right midfielder, then as an attacking midfielder and more recently has been playing in the ‘second striker’s’ role.

And finally some awesome photos of the latest Gunner.





Nice eh?

In a different news, Arsenal's FA Cup replay against Cardiff City is postponed due to heavy snow in London. Here is how The Emirates look like yesterday.





Looks really cold. Anyway, that's a wrap!