Tottenham go for Pavlyuchenko before Arshavin
Published 27 August, 2008, 13:45
Spartak Moscow's Roman Pavlyuchenko has claimed he is moving to the English Premier League with Tottenham Hotspur – less than 24 hours after saying he's staying in Russia.
The statement followed an announcement saying he had decided to stay in Moscow for family reasons. The news might also have sealed the fate of another Russian forward.
Andrey Arshavin has been a Tottenham target, with Zenit looking for 33 million dollars, but today’s announcement could affect that deal.
Pavlyuchenko first came to the attention of Spurs after scoring twice for Russia in his side's 2-1 Euro 2008 qualifier against England in October last year.
The player is now waiting on a British visa before completing the 24 million dollar deal.
The rangy forward will be arriving at just the right time for the London club – after Robbie Keane's departure to Liverpool and Dimitar Berbatov's imminent exit for Manchester United.
The 26 year-old has withdrawn from Spartak's Wednesday night Champions League third qualifying round clash with Dynamo Kiev.
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