âThe Arshavin deal went right down to the wire â that was tense.
âThere was a lot of snow predicted and Arshavin was waiting in Paris to see if the deal could go ahead.
âMy brother Phil had the foresight to fly him into London, even though the deal wasnât done, because we didnât want him stranded.
âCredit to Sky, they then found him at the hotel we had hidden him in and simply Âbecause he was in the country they were reporting the deal was done â it wasnât.
âHe had a medical but there was a problem with the Âvaluation. What made it all the more important from my point of view was that Vladimir Putin was keeping an eye on the situation!
âZenit is his club and he and Andrey know each other, so we really had to make sure Âeverything was spot-on.
âAs an agreement moved closer, I remember looking at the TV and the ticker on Sky Sports News was counting down. The window closed in one minute and 30 seconds!
âI was at home â snowed in because of the bad weather â and was on the phone to a guy called Pavel, desperately trying to get him to fax through the agreement. But it just wouldnât go through.
âWe were almost out of time so I gave up on the fax machine and said to him, âJust write âagreedâ on an email to me NOW and weâll sort everything else out afterwardsâ.
âHe was a bit cautious about what we were agreeing but I promised to tear it up if they werenât happy. With eight Âseconds left, the email landed.
There was one word on the email â âagreedâ.
âAnd that was enough to Âsecure Andreyâs move to Arsenal.
âThankfully the FA accepted the email as confirmation that the deal that had been in discussion.â
