Arshavin Finally Granted Freedom to Leave

Want away midfielder, Andrey Arshavin, has finally been granted permission to exit Arsenal this summer after Gunners boss, Arsene Wenger, conceded the Russian’s contract will not be extended.

Arshavin joined Arsenal in 2009 after an impressive display for his national side at Euro 2008 yet never really hit it off with his teammates and football pundits on Betfair.

He will forever be remembered for his four goals at Liverpool in April 2009 and his winning strike against Barcelona in the Champions League two seasons ago.

In his first full campaign at the Emirates, he scored 12 goals in 39 appearances yet inconsistencies in his performances and a tendency to drop out of games meant he never cemented a place in the first team for long.

That inconsistency, it seems, is the main reason Wenger is letting him go:

"I don't think he will stay here, because he doesn't play enough," Wenger told reporters. "But he has shown 100% commitment at absolutely every session, he has been an example for everybody.

Unfortunately for Wenger, many Arsenal fans will disagree with his appraisal of Arshavin’s commitment.

For the Russian has often been caught wanting on the touchlines in games, unwilling to put his wonderful skill and footballing brain to good use against less talented opposition.

It isn’t that he is a shirker or a bad player, it’s just that whatever brilliance he produced in training rarely made it onto the football field. He has never looked entirely comfortable playing on the left side of midfield and hasn’t the strength, it seems, to contest for a central role.

The majority of Arsenal fans are hoping to see the club shed much of its baggage this summer and Arshavin, along with Johan Djourou and Marouane Chamakh, quite rightly won’t be around for the 2013/14 season. 

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