Andrei Arshavin rejects Dinamo Moscow, likely to stay at Arsenal

Dinamo Moscow approached Arsenal in an attempt to buy midfielder and noted Russian Andrei Arshavin, but were rebuffed by the player, who evidently is very limited in his allowable employers. Arseblog News says that the club's coach, Dan Petrescu, has confirmed the failed move:

Yes, I wanted to add this player to the team. But Andrei said no to Dinamo.

Arshavin has said in the past that he would be open to returning home, but if he did would only agree to play for Zenit St. Petersburg (where he played his entire pre-Arsenal career from youth to professional, and played while on loan last spring). With Zenit uninterested in a permanent move, this leaves Arshavin's options limited. He appears content as a bench player at Arsenal, though, as it's rumored that he's interested in staying in London to gain British citizenship for his children.

In short, it appears that Meerkat is staying a Gunner a while longer.

I love the tiny bastard, so I'm actually okay with this. I find accusations of laziness wide of the mark, and I think he brings a level of creativity to the table that few other Arsenal players - Santi Cazorla, and maybe Jack Wilshere when healthy, and that's about it - can boast. And beside that, he's the most surreal, interesting, and amusing player that I can think of who doesn't have an almost-patronizing cult following. He can do a job off the bench for Arsenal (and has, if you remember Thierry Henry's last-minute winner at Sunderland last winter) and wages aside, it's really not a net negative to keep him, at least for now.