Arshavin 'too good' for duo

Advocaat advises in-demand attacker against move to Spurs or Gers

By James Dall   Last updated: 12th December 2008  

Arshavin 'too good' for duo

Arshavin: Advice from boss

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Zenit St Petersburg boss Dick Advocaat believes Andrei Arshavin is 'too good for Tottenham Hotspur or Rangers'.

The Russian playmaker has been regularly linked with a big-money move away from the Uefa Cup holders but as yet a transfer has failed to materialise.

A number of clubs have been mooted as potential suitors for his signature, with Spurs, Barcelona, Real Madrid and, most recently Rangers, all suggested as interested parties.

Advocaat recently expressed his belief that Zenit should allow Arshavin, 27, to leave but does not feel a switch to White Hart Lane or Ibrox would prove beneficial to his career.

Classier

The Dutch coach said in the Daily Mirror: "As a manager I would like Arshavin to stay but as a person I realise that he deserves more.

"But Andrei is too good for Spurs or Rangers. It would be better for him to stay in St Petersburg than to go to London or Glasgow. Tottenham has a fine reputation but I doubt that Arshavin will want to move there.

"I do not want to offend Roman Pavlyuchenko, but in my opinion Arshavin is a much classier player. He needs to move to a really great club. He didn't show his best form recently. For St Petersburg he doesn't perform as strongly as he used to.

"For me, it's obvious Zenit must let him go. I'm sure that as soon as he joins one of the European giants there will be no problems with his motivation.

"In fact, he'll probably do even better than he did here."