Reading eager to snap up Arshavin

Reading are looking to bolster their attacking options in January with a move for out of favour Arsenal midfielder Andrei Arshavin according to the Daily Mail.

The Gunners are keen to shift the 31-year-old who hasn’t shown any of the form which persuaded Arsene Wenger to pay £15m for his services in quite some time and is raking in £85,000 a week in wages. There have been flashes of brilliance from the Russian - his four goals at Anfield, the winner against Barcelona in 2011 - but they have been too few and far between and now Arshavin is apparently becoming available for just £2m.

Reading’s billionaire Russian owner Anton Zingarevich could be especially enthusiastic about a move for the man who is still a hero in his home country, and at £2m Arshavin could be a bargain. We have seen a late resurgence in Dimitar Berbatov’s career at Fulham where he has gone from being a bit-part player a one of the country’s biggest teams to the main man at a smaller side. Perhaps Arshavin will never be quite the player Berbatov is but given a central creative role at the Royals –a role he has rarely been given at Arsenal – the playmaker in him could flourish.

Whether or not the addition of Arshavin would be enough to keep Reading up is another matter however - with just six points on the board from 19 games, I suspect not.

Jack Johnson

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