Zenit St Petersburg are ready to re-sign Andrey Arshavin as part of long-term plans to be one of the biggest clubs in Europe, reports the Daily Mail. Billionaire backers Gazprom are ready to increase their investment in the Russian club following the start of construction on a 62,000-seat stadium bearing the company's name.
"We must think about stable funding for Zenit in the long term," said Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller. "The club have more than £37m on their own in the past year.
"Transfers from Gazprom will not only continue, but will probably even increase. Our challenge is to become one of the best clubs in Europe and we will fulfil it."
Arshavin has indicated he would like to go back to Zenit before the end of his career and Zenit president Alexander Dyukov will welcome him back.
"Even today we are ready to open negotiations with Arsenal," said the Zenit head honcho. "But I'm sure they would lead nowhere." "In my opinion, Andrey only said that he wanted to move to a stronger championship and that this was his dream.
"Generally, he is good at both football and when it comes to information. He is like no other in the Russia team for being able to work with the Press and use them to promote his brand. This was such a case.
"But at the same time he played and practice with total commitment. For our part, we believe we met our obligations to Andrey."
