The Fans Football Blog3

Asked about his current situation, Barcelona attacking midfielder and Belarussian international Alexander Hleb (27) has said in an interview with Russian sports paper Sport-Express that he would leave in the winter transfer window if nothing changes:

"Thierry Henry told me that his first season in the club was not very successful too and much better than my debut. He advised me to stay until winter and said: “If nothing changes by this time it’s better to search for another club” "

Hleb has tried to find reasons of his unsuccessful start in the Champions League titleholders Barcelona:

"Frankly speaking I don’t explain why I failed to make a perfect start to my career in Barcelona. The team plays wonderfully and there couldn’t be any claims to my partners and coaches".

Hleb still hopes that he can break into the first team :

"I miss football very much and I am set to prove that I am helpful to Barcelona, that I am the first-choice player since the first day of our pre-season preparations".

Read the rest of the interview here

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Asked about the rumours linking him with a move to Barcelona (read more here), Arsenal attacker and Russian international Andrei Arshavin (27) has unconfirmedly denied the new reports in an interview with Russian sports paper Sport-Express:

"That is nothing more than a rumour. I'm an Arsenal player and the only thing I am thinking about is preparing for the new season.

It's true that if they do not solve the tax issues in England, it's possible that they will see an exodus of stars. But, in my view, the Premier League is still the best. However, we will find out when we see what happens in the Champions League, of course."

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Asked about the rumours linking him with a move to several European top clubs (read more here), CSKA Moscow left winger and Russian international Yuri Zhirkov (25) has unconfirmedly said in an interview with Russian sports paper Sport-Express that a transfer to Barcelona is his first option:

"I would prefer to join Barcelona, but that does not automatically mean I would turn down Chelsea. I should stress again that there is a difference between playing for a club and sitting on the bench. If I had to sit on the bench, I wouldn't even want to join Barcelona. Said that, I am still yet to receive any specific offers.

Milan or Barcelona? Being a fan of both of those teams, it would depend on the contract! (laughs) With all else being equal, I would perhaps go to Barcelona because it is a city I like very much and I have friends there. However, we are talking about something that is a long way from reality right now."

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Asked about the rumours linking him with several European top clubs among which Barcelona (read more here), CSKA Moscow left winger and Russian international Yuri Zhirkov (25) has unconfirmedly said in an interview with Russian sports paper Sport-Express that his club has so far not received concrete offers:

"There is a lot of talk about this subject but CSKA have not yet received any formal proposals. The president of our club always keeps me informed. I think no self-respecting footballer would refuse to play for a European top club.

Talking about this topic, about which club I could join, is at this moment nevertheless a guess. But when an offer arrives it can be discussed and it will be up to CSKA to make a decision. We will see what will happen. In the autumn, the club starts in the UEFA Champions League and I think all the preconditions exist for the team to break the barrier of the group stages."

Read more:
CSKA Moscow left winger Zhirkov offered
Zhirkov and Lahm on top of left back list
Asenjo, Zhirkov and Silva main transfer targets

Russian sports paper Sport-Express claims that Barcelona will sign Lokomotiv Moscow youth goalkeeper Timur Akmurzin (11).

After Barcelona had received excellent scouting reports on Akmurzin, the club closed a deal and the Russian goalkeeper has recently moved to Barcelona, where he isstudying and playing with the youth teams.

Once Akmurzin has turned 12 later this year, Barcelona will offer the youth player a contract and pay him a scholarship.

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Barcelona player Alexander Hleb gave an interview to Russian sports paper Sport-Express.





You weren't disappointed because you didn't start the game against Real Madrid?
I understood that I wouldn’t play in the starting eleven, when I was part of the starting line-up in the Champions League clash against Shakhtar. Nobody said anything that time, but I understood everything without words. Nevertheless, I came up to the pitch at the end of the match, and I was happy I helped my team fire in the second goal.

What did you think about te way Real Madrid approached the game?
This game was not the most difficult and at the same time it was not the easiest one. Real played on counterattacks and made several very dangerous attacks. We need to thank our goalkeeper Valdes, who made big contribution to our victory.

What about Barcelona's performance?
Our team demonstrated wonderful football. We controlled the game and created many scoring opportunities, so Real goalkeeper Iker Casillas had to work hard too. However, the most important thing is that we won and extended our lead over Madrid.

There were some stories about the cold reaction of the fans earlier this season. How was that on Saturday?
The atmosphere at the stadium was great! People were singing and supporting us as hard as they could. In general when there more than ten thousand people at the stands, it always impresses your mind.

What are the main qualities of Barcelona this season?
Barcelona is strong because of its team play and the players’ mutual understanding on the pitch. And of course I can’t but mention that there are so many star players in the club, who always can turn the match around when it’s necessary.

You think the team will be able to continue the way they're playing now?
We have enough good players at all positions. The team is at peak form, and I want to hope that our winning run will be extended.


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Asked about the transfer soap opera regarding to Zenit Saint Petersburg forward and Russian international Andrei Arshavin (27) this summer, Zenit general director Maxim Mitrofanov has said in an interview with Russian sports paper Sport-Express that Barcelona didn't want to spend big on the Russian attacker because they didn't see him as a first-choice player:

In a very interesting interview with Russian sports paper Sport-Express, Zenit Saint Petersburg forward and Russian international Andrei Arshavin (27) has explained last months' events surrounding his transfer and the current situation:

"Before the Euros we met a few times with Zenit president Aleksandr Valerevich Dyukov in the Marriott Hotel in Moscow, where I was staying as part of the national squad. I am actually very thankful to him that he came himself since I didn't have the opportunity to leave the squad for a meeting at the time.

Dyukov made clear each time that the club cared a lot about me, and I always told him that I understand Zenit's concerns, but I very much want to try something different, in a stronger championship. So I asked him to give my agent Dennis Lachter permission to look for a new club for me. That was given for a month.

Already during the Euros Dmitry Selyuk, who used to work with Metallurg Donetsk, called to inform me that Barcelona were interested in me. He wanted to know how much Zenit wanted for me. I had already spoken to the former club president, Sergey Aleksandrovich Fursenko, about this, and the sum of 12-15 million euro was mentioned.

Given that when Dyukov arrived he explained that all of the former president's orders still stood, I told Selyuk 15 million euro°. He said that was an acceptable price and that if my personal terms could be met by Barcelona president Laporta, who would be contacting me, then the Catalan club would make Zenit a formal offer. Laporta called me, I told him what I wanted, and the president of Barca was fine with it.

The next day a fax was sent to Zenit with an official offer from the Catalan club. This was around the time of the match against Sweden at Euro 2008. I was informed by the intermediary Dmitry Selyuk that if Zenit refused this offer, then Barcelona would opt to buy Arsenal's Alexander Hleb. That was what eventually happened."

After some contacts with Italian clubs and Chelsea, Arshavin was then contacted by Tottenham: "I was initially sceptical about the offer from Tottenham but then manager Juande Ramos himself called me and informed me that they were selling Robbie Keane and really wanted to have me in their team, and my attitude changed. When the coach himself is interested in you it's already a half-start to an eventual successful transfer. So I agreed in principle to the deal.

A little later a representative from the English club came here to discuss the personal terms of my contract. The meeting didn't take long, we agreed everything quickly. Only my transfer fee became an issue. I don't know where the Zenit president got his figures from, but it was very high. I was told about 27 million euro°, which scared everyone away.

It had been mooted in the press that one of the stumbling blocks to a deal with a foreign club had been my demands, rather than those of his club but this is untrue. There was never any problem with my personal demands with Barcelona and Tottenham. I can say that if I leave to go abroad, I will earn less than in Russia."

Arshavin says he still wants to leave although he doesn't know if it will be possible this summer: "It's nicer to watch a soap opera than appear in one yourself. I really want to leave but the club, who don't want to let me go at all, are doing everything they can to make sure it doesn't happen. If I don't move now, I probably never will.

My mood at the moment, it's fair to say, is not the best. But it's easier now that all the rumours are dying down, unlike in the first weeks after the Euros when it was very hard. Every ten minutes the phone was ringing, and the situation kept changing in one way or another... Now you see yourself, we've been sitting here for half an hour and I haven't had one call.

I basically believe that the stars will all align themselves and I will be able to leave. But this might be more like believing in miracles. I could, of course, call up the president of the club every day and cry, but I think that would just annoy him. I'm sure he understands me as a human being, but I'm afraid at the moment that doesn't change anything."

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Over the last days the transfer of Zenit Saint Petersburg forward and Russian international Andrei Arshavin (27) has become increasingly complicated due to the fee demands of his team. Barcelona seems to have left the race at this point.

On Sunday, Zenit published a statement on its official website saying that Barcelona was the only club that has made an offer: "FC Zenit officially informs, that, as of this moment, there are no negotiations about Andrey Arshavin's transfer to any club. The only request about possibility of forward's transfer was the offer from Spanish Barcelona FC. Information in mass media about Zenit's negotiations with Chelsea FC is not corresponding to the truth. "

One day later, a new statement - that was only published on the Russian version of the site of the Russian club - said that Barcelona was not willing to improve its initial bid of 15 million euro° what has caused the end the negotiations.

Zenit head of administrative and legal affairs Pavel Pivovarov told British television station Sky Sports on Monday that Barca's initial offer was not enough to secure Arshavin's services: "We have received only one firm offer - from FC Barcelona - but now we need to negotiate the transfer sum. Nothing is decided. It's about him, it's about the club, whether we will be satisfied with the offer. Now, we are not." Pivovarov later added to journalists: "If Barcelona would double their first offer, we would consider selling."

In an interview with Russian sports paper Sport-Express a few days ago, Arshavin seemed to accept the postion of his club: "I perfectly understand the position of Zenit: the offered transfer fee is really too low. It seems that with Barcelona pulling back, one of my options for next season has failed.

I nevertheless still want to leave Zenit and play in a stronger league. It's strange how things are going cause it seems that my good performance at the Euro is turning out bad for me since that made the price get higher. There's some time left, so maybe it will be fulfilled later on, but for now the dream stays a dream."

Last Friday, Zenit manager Dick Advocaat had announced that Arshavin wouldn't play anymore for his team until his future had been resolved. Arshavin nevertheless already started a Russian league match yesterday.

Asked about a last update, Arshavin's presumed agent Dennis Lachter says today in an interview with British tabloid The Daily Express that Zenit is asking 30 million euro° for the attacker: "Barcelona failed with a 15 million euro° bid for Andrei and now an English club have had a 25 million euro° offer rejected by Zenit. Zenit wants 30 million euro°, so clubs who want to sign Andrei will have to get closer to that figure.

And I believe they will because there are clubs interested in Andrei who are trying to sell other players first. The figure is not easy to reach, but the transfer activity is beginning to happen and I am still optimistic he will join a big club. I don’t know exactly when Andrei’s future will be resolved, but we have until the end of August, so we are both fairly relaxed."

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