Andrei Arshavin’s hokey cokey move from Zenit to Arsenal has been finalised at long last. After all the fuss and red tape, Arsenal have a fine fine player but can us fantasy managers get in on the act?
I’ve written at length about Arshavin’s record and ability in the past here and here. There’s no doubt that Arsenal have themselves an immense player of the highest quality – the question in fantasy terms is just how quickly will Arshavin adjust to life in the Premier League and just what kind of role will Wenger have in mind for him.
Arsenal’s new man is a versatile attacking player who can just behind the strikers, as a second striker or out wide. Just where Wenger will fit him into his lineup is a puzzle. A role behind the strikers – Adebayor and Van Persie is a possibility but given that Wenger has Nasri and the returning Walcott at his disposal, that’s a wealth of attacking riches that look almost impossible to accommodate in the same side.
With Van Persie rested at the weekend (to the dismay of many fantasy managers), could the arrival of Arshavin increase the threat of rest and rotation for the Dutchman? Certainly we saw Arshavin operate effectively behind Pavlyuchenko for the Russian national side and you can see him given a role behind Adebayor on a good few occasions by Wenger. I certainly fear that Wenger will feel more secure about resting Van Persie more often as a result of Arshavin’s arrival. No doubt clues will emerge as to Arshavin’s role in the next few days so I’ll keep you posted on these.
The Russian will surely take time to settle but we saw in the Euro’s that Arshavin can cope with the physical demands of the game – the pace of the Premier League will test his adaptability but I can’t see it being a long-term issue.
The next issue for us fantasy managers, and certainly the clincher when it comes to his potential as a signing, is his classification and his price. The FPL have already added him to their game as a forward priced at 9.5. This is disappointing to be honest. As such we need assurances of a starting role as a second striker before we could seriously consider him as a fantasy signing. A deeper role, combined with time to adjust, would make Arshavin a real gamble in the short-term.