Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger admits they trumped Tottenham for new Russian signing Andrei Arshavin.
"Tottenham were close to signing him, but they didn't do it in the end because of problems with negotiations," the manager told the Official Arsenal Magazine. "We have been aware of him for a long time, but basically the transfer lasted a month from the first contact with the player and his agent.
"The negotiations with Zenit also took a long time."