Arsenal forward Andrey Arshavin has admitted he would relish the opportunity to play for Barcelona.

The Russia international playmaker came close to joining the Catalan giants from Zenit St Petersburg in July 2008, before moving to Emirates Stadium the following January.

Arshavin limped out of the first leg of Arsenal's 6-3 aggregate defeat by Barca in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals at the end of March after suffering a calf injury from which he is still to recover.

He believes the opportunity to join Pep Guardiola's defending European champions would be too good to turn down, even though they wrecked the Gunners' dreams of continental glory.

"Even playing just one season for Barcelona would make a pinnacle of my whole career," Arshavin told Sport-Express newspaper.

"Barca are the best team in the world and I enjoy their style of play so much. But after watching them against Arsenal the enjoyment has quickly turned into sorrow.

"They are so much better than anybody else at the moment."

Barca are facing a fight to defend their trophy, having suffered a 3-1 defeat away to Inter Milan in the first leg of their semi-final, a result which Arshavin believes was down to the Italian giants' manager.

He said: "It's all (Jose) Mourinho's magic. He is a genius.

"I think there are three coaches who are the best in the world - (England manager) Fabio Capello, Jose Mourinho and (former Russia manager) Guus Hiddink. If I would pick a coach for the Russian national team, I'd want one of them to be our boss.

"(Arsenal manager) Arsene Wenger is also a good coach but not for Russia."

sportinglife.com

Andrey Arshavin maintains he is happy at Arsenal - and insists comments made in the Russian media are "often translated wrongly" and leave him feeling "unpleasant".

The 28-year-old is currently battling to be fit from a calf problem, and may not make the trip to Blackburn on Monday night.

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger was, though, left less than impressed by comments attributed to the Russian international which talked up Barcelona, who knocked Arsenal out of the Champions League, and claimed playing for the Spanish giants at some stage "would be the peak of my career".

Wenger, however, stressed he would continue to take such stories with a pinch of salt given their indirect source.

It is not the first time these reported comments from Arshavin have hit the headlines, but the former Zenit St Petersburg midfielder - who joined Arsenal in a £15million deal in January 2009 - insists things can be taken out of context.

"I am often translated wrongly," Arshavin said in Russian newspaper Sport Express.

"If I talk to the English press, there is no problem, but when I say something in Russia, some special news agency takes it, translates it and sells these quotes.

"During the process of interpretation they translate my words as they see fit.

"I find this unpleasant. People might think I said something that, I fact, I never said."

Arshavin maintained: "I respect the club and I am happy that I am a part of it.

"I am very grateful to the Arsenal fans, who love me."

sportinglife.com

Su Fantagazzetta ci sono dichiarazioni chiarissime di partenza verso la Catalogna

Caspita non riesco davvero a credere che dopo un solo anno e mezzo possa già lasciare i Gunners!

Sarebbe perfetto lì a sinistra, ma non possono prendere mezzo Arsenal

Lette anch'io, ma non credo le abbia rilasciate... boh, vedremo.

E che andrebbe a fare a barcellona? Al posto di Pedro?

Il Barcelona il prossimo anno - oltre ad un centravanti - prenderà sicuramente un giocatore che possa giocare largo sulla sinistra nel tridente di Pep, vista la quasi certa partenza di Henry. Il miglior Arshavin come caratteristiche sarebbe perfetto, l'unico problema è l'età.

A me sembra che in qualche modo abbiano consacrato Pedro come titolare. Non so se andranno a prendere un giocatore come Arshavin (che vorrebbe il posto da titolare), secondo me punteranno su un buon giocatore da tenere in panchina.

e ibra§????

Man City?