Andrei Arshavin was forced to cough up a fortune to gain his move from Zenit St Petersburg to Arsenal yesterday. The Daily Mail says the late stumbling block is believed to involve a £2.25m payment Zenit claim they are owed by Arshavin, that amount being the difference in his wages from his original deal with the Russian side and the £90,000-a-week contract he signed last spring.

However, that impasse is understood to have broken after Arshavin agreed to hand over a slice of his signing on fee to his former club.

Arshavin would have liked to have worn the No 10 jersey he wears for Russia and Zenit, but, with former skipper William Gallas already laying claim to that, the playmaker is set to take the No 13.

Events moved quickly and dramatically over the 24 hours running up to the deadline. Arshavin flew into London yesterday and spent the night in a Herfordshire hotel, but was said to be making his way to an airport for a flight back to St Petersburg after a frustrating morning of negotiations.

Arshavin was disappointed with the personal terms on the table this morning and the two sides were also unable to agree a fee. All three parties appeared no closer this afternoon but a breakthrough was achieved through high-level boardroom discussions between both clubs.

The saga has been dubbed 'The Soap Opera' in his homeland and there has been threats that he would strike at Zenit if he did not secure an exit.

It was reported that he was ready to walk away from football all together after being branded greedy last week.

The tedious twists and turns were mocked this morning by a columnist in Russia's Fvremya newspaper, who wrote: "It seems that for Gazprom (Zenit's owners), it has been easier to negotiate the reopening of gas pipes to Ukraine than it has been for them to sell Arshavin."