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Andrey Arshavin. Photo by Wonker. Wikimedia

Top 10 Interesting Facts about Andrei Arshavin

Andrey Sergeyevich Arshavin, born May 29, 1981, is a former Russian professional footballer who played as a winger or midfielder.

Arshavin began his career in 2000 at Zenit Saint Petersburg. He went on to win the Russian Premier League, League Cup, Russian Super Cup, UEFA Cup, and UEFA Super Cup with the club. Arshavin was named Russian Footballer of the year during his time with Zenit.

He had a breakout performance at UEFA Euro 2008, where he impressed throughout Russia’s run to the tournament’s semi-finals, and he also finished sixth in the 2008 Ballon d’Or.  Arshavin then joined English Premier League club Arsenal during the 2008鈥�09 winter transfer window, becoming the club’s most expensive player at the time with a fee of 拢15 million. Arshavin later returned to Zenit, first on loan and then permanently in 2013. 

1. Andrei Arshavin started his career playing for Zenit Saint Petersburg

Arshavin made his Zenit first-team debut in a 3鈥�0 away win over English side Bradford City in the Intertoto Cup in 2000. He moved around the field, first as a right midfielder, then as an attacking midfielder, and finally as a second striker.

Shava, as he was nicknamed by Zenit fans, led his Zenit team to the Russian Premier League title in 2007, starting all 30 matches, scoring 11 goals and providing 11 assists, the most in the Russian Premier League that year. It was the club’s first league title since 1984, when it won the now-defunct Soviet Top League.

Arshavin was also a key player in Zenit’s UEFA Cup victory in 2007鈥�08, and was named Man of the Match in the final. Arshavin was nominated for the prestigious Ballon d’Or award in October 2008.

2. European clubs called for Andrei Arshavin

Several European clubs were interested in Arshavin after his performances in the UEFA Cup and UEFA Euro 2008. However, Newcastle United manager Sam Allardyce expressed interest in January 2008, but he was fired as the transfer window opened.

 Zenit turned down Barcelona’s 鈧�15 million offer for the player in June 2008.  In addition, Tottenham Hotspur’s 拢16 million offer in August fell short of Zenit’s asking price of 拢22 million.  Arshavin and his agent Dennis Lachter were both dissatisfied with Zenit’s refusal to lower their asking price. 

3. Andrei Arshavin, played for Arsenal

Valon Behrami and Andrey Arshavin. Photo by Ronnie Macdonald. Wikimedia

Arshavin was cup-tied after playing for Zenit in the 2008鈥�09 Champions League, and thus could not play for Arsenal in the knockout stage.  Arshavin made his Premier League debut for Arsenal against Sunderland on 21 February 2009.

Andrey Arshavin made his Premier League debut against West Bromwich Albion, setting up a free-kick goal for Kolo Tour茅 in the 38th minute, the second goal in a 3鈥�1 victory. He scored his first Arsenal goal in the 65th minute of the game against Blackburn Rovers from a very tight angle. He later assisted Emmanuel Ebou茅 for Arsenal’s third goal of the game, which ended 4鈥�0. 

4. Andrei Arshavin scored 4 goals in Arsenal’s away match

Arshavin was named Man of the Match on April 21, 2009, after scoring all four Arsenal goals in a 4鈥�4 draw with Liverpool at Anfield. It was an exciting game, and it was the first time in Arshavin’s career that he scored four goals in a single game.

He was also the first away player to score four goals in a single league match at Anfield since Dennis Westcott for Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1946, and the first Arsenal player to score four goals in any match since Jlio Baptista in 2007.

He also became only the sixth player in Premier League history to score four goals on the road. 

5. Andrei Arshavin, captained Arsenal

On 2 May 2009, Arshavin captained Arsenal for the first time in an away match against Portsmouth, which they won 3鈥�0, with Arshavin contributing two assists and a contentious penalty. 

6. Andrei Arshavin, voted 2nd as Arsenal’s player of the season

Andrey Arshavin. Photo by Ronnie Macdonald. Wikimedia

Andrei Arshavin was named Premier League Player of the Month for April on May 8th. He was also voted Arsenal’s Player of the Month for April and May and finished second in Arsenal’s Player of the Season poll, despite only appearing in the second half of the season and appearing in less than a quarter of Arsenal’s matches all season.

7. Andrei Arshavin, loaned to Russian’s national team

Andrei Arshavin. Photo by 袙褟褔械褋谢邪胁 袝胁写芯泻懈屑芯胁.

After much speculation about joining Anzhi Makhachkala and reuniting with former Russian national team coach Guus Hiddink, Arshavin agreed to a loan move to his boyhood club Zenit Saint Petersburg for the remainder of the 2011鈥�12 season, just 40 seconds before the Russian transfer window closed. 

Arshavin joined Luciano Spalletti’s side in Saint Petersburg with the intention of retaining his place in Russia’s Euro 2012 squad. Arshavin made his loan debut for Zenit on March 3 against CSKA Moscow, which ended in a 2鈥�2 draw. He was ineligible to play in Zenit’s 2鈥�0 Champions League last-16 loss to Benfica.  Arshavin appeared in 11 games for Zenit during his second stint, scoring three goals.

8. Andrei Arshavin was in the UEFA EURO 2012

UEFA 2012. Photo by Piotr Drabik. Wikimedia

On May 25, 2012, Arshavin was named to the finalized UEFA Euro 2012 squad.  He started all three of their games in Group A, as Russia was eliminated in the group stage, finishing third on the head-to-head ruling. Nonetheless, Arshavin was named the tournament’s best midfielder statistically by UEFA.

9. Andrei Arshavin signed a contract with Zenit

Andrei Arshavin playing for Zenit. Photo by 袙褟褔械褋谢邪胁 袝胁写芯泻懈屑芯胁.

Arshavin signed a two-year contract with Zenit, moving on a free transfer, on June 27, 2013. Arshavin expressed his desire to “put on Zenit’s shirt again.” 

Arshavin scored on his second league appearance for the club, opening a 1鈥�1 draw against Kuban Krasnodar at home on 26th July, before scoring again on 7 August, in a 5鈥�0 win in the Champions League third qualifying round against FC Nordsjaelland.

10. Andrei Arshavin, studied fashion design

At 17 years of age, Andrei Arshavin choose to study fashion design after failing in the chemical technology department. He wrote a thesis on a suit that doubles up as sportswear while studying at the St Petersburg State University of Technology and Design.