Arsene Wenger has confirmed he intends to hand Andrey Arshavin his Arsenal debut on Saturday.
Russian playmaker set for role against Black Cats
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has confirmed he intends to hand Andrey Arshavin his debut against Sunderland on Saturday.
Russia international Arshavin completed his transfer to the Gunners from Zenit St Petersburg earlier this month and has been working on his fitness in training.
The 27-year-old has not played a competitive match since the end of the Russian Premier League season in late November, but Wenger is ready to involve him at Emirates Stadium this weekend.
"He will be involved," Wenger told the club's official website. "But I have not decided what I will do with him yet."
The French coach added: "He is still working on preparation and he is not qualified for the (UEFA Champions League) game against Roma (on Tuesday) so we can give him another week of hard work.
"At the end of next week, that will be three weeks with us and one week with Zenit, that should be enough."
