Andrey Arshavin’s official website has confirmed that our little Russian “has arrived in St Petersburg on a working visit”. Arshavin apparently arrived in Russia only a few hours after he made what was probably his last appearance for Arsenal – a 13 minute cameo against Sunderland yesterday afternoon.

There are those who feel that Andrey still has a part to play at Arsenal this season. As much as I would like to agree, he is now 31 years old and has become a shadow of the player we signed three and a half years ago. He spent the second half of last season on loan at Zenit St Petersburg (his former club) and it is looking increasingly likely that he will now move back to Russia on a permanent basis.

The 1-line statement on his official website is extremely vague, so the reasons for Andrey’s sudden trip to Russia cannot yet be confirmed. However, seeing as there are no international games until Russia face Northern Ireland in a World Cup qualifier on the 9th of September I am inclined to think that his travels are related to a transfer. We will have more on this situation as and when more information is released, either by the player or either club.

With Arshavin gone and Nicklas Bendtner probably leaving I would now suggest that Arsene Wenger step up his interest in a new striker. We are apparently signing Nuri Sahin on a season-long loan next week as a replacement for Alex Song, but we are still one or two players short of being able to seriously compete for a Champions League place.