Back in September the Daily Mail claimed that Arsenal were going to try and bring Zenit St Petersburg’s Igor Denisov to the Premier League after they highlighted that the player had a bust-up with the management and was being forced to train with the youth team.  They also linked City, United and Liverpool to the player. The row was over wages being paid to Hulk and Witsel and saw the player spend one month with the youth team.

As you all know, of course, this move never happened, so, not to waste a good rumour which hasn’t yet come to anything, the Daily Star are running the story, this time adding a little twist, claiming that we want to give them Arshavin in exchange.

Denisov is now the captain of the Russian national side and it was widely reported that he went on strike over the wage issue but is now back in the side after refusing to train as he wanted to be paid the same as Hulk. He has now apologised.

Denisov said at the time

I could understand if we signed Lionel Messi or Andres Iniesta. Are Hulk and Witsel so much better than others to earn a salary that is three times more?

His apology was

I was wrong. I was driven by my emotions.

Anyway, Arshavin could sign a pre-contract agreement with the Russian side in January allowing him to move for free in the summer when his contract expires so it’s not clear how much weight a player, who Zenit previously demanded from Arsenal for free anyway, would hold in any transfer negotiation. It is hardly a major bargaining chip.

The Star are using the reason that Denisov is back in the Zenit camp as the reason for our interest whereas the Mail used the reason that he was out of the Zenit camp as theirs. The Star, of course, don’t offer any sources to back up their claims regarding this story and I can see it going the same way as the Mail’s report back in September.