Zenit confirm Arshavin interest

Zenit St Petersburg manager Luciano Spalletti revealed that he is mulling an offer for Arsenal midfielder Andrei Arshavin in the current transfer window.

The midfielder had a successful stint at the Russian side when sent on loan during the second half of the previous season. Although he made just 10 appearances, he scored three goals and was generally a handful for opposing defences and was also a markedly different player from the one that had been languishing on the substitutes bench with his parent club.

The Russian captain also featured in Euro 2012 but was unable to lead his side past the group stage as their surprise loss to Greece saw them exit the tournament due to a poorer head-to-head record.

And with Arsenal reinforcing their squad with the transfers of Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud and youngster Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain being promised further first team action, the club's record signing is widely expected to leave the club in the summer window.

In a positive sign for the player's future, Zenit's Italian coach has continued to be a fan of the 31-year-old and he also stated that Arshavin's name has come up in recent discussions on which players to buy for the new season.

"We will buy players," Spaletti told Zenit's official website. "In my opinion Arshavin is a player of real class and, in addition, he is an intelligent man. It all depends on what his motivation is.

"I have little doubt about Arshavin.

"I'm sure if he came back, he would play as well as last season.

"He is one of the names that we have discussed."

Zenit won a second consecutive Russian Premier League title under the former Roma coach back in May.