Arshavin, United transfer pawn in Ronaldo move to Madrid?

There aren't many players who could potentially placate unhappy United fans about the possible loss of Cristiano Ronaldo this summer, but you do wonder if Arshavin is one of them. The Russian midfield general has been in sparkling form in Euro 2008 and anyone who has had the pleasure to watch him perform on the big stage over the last two years will testify that he is no flash in the pan. Arshavin is the real thing. Whether or not United will be able to broker a deal is an interesting question to pose, with all his connections it would appear that Roman Abramovich must be best placed to capture the Russian.

However, with the player hinting strongly that he fancies a move to La Liga and therefore in all probability Real Madrid, there is scope for Madrid to leave the way clear for United to sign Arshavin as a condition of any potential Ronaldo deal. For that scenario to happen, Madrid would have up their game in the diplomacy stakes, United fans won't be holding their breath on that score, as so far Ramón Calderón has shown all the subtlety of a rapist where courting is concerned.

For their part United would need to be smart enough to play this card should they eventually enter into serious negotiations with Madrid, but given Arshavin's recent "come and get me plea" time is of the essence. The Red Devils need to be proactive if they are serious about Arshavin.

My fear is that Fergie hasn't earmarked the Russian as a potential target because all of his focus has been wrongly centred on the search for a new striker, but there has always been the possibility that Ronaldo would want to leave and anyone who knows anything about world football should have been aware of Arshavin's potential. Failure to recognise Arshavin's ability is bad enough, but not making any move to sign him is even worse.

If I was a betting man, my money would be on Arshavin moving to Chelsea and we cannot rule that Wenger is already three steps ahead of everyone else in the race to sign the Russian and therefore Arsenal are a definite possibility.

Arshavin the perfect replacement for Scholes - "Fergie, Fergie - sign him on"

Russian star Arshavin lit up Manchester last night in the UEFA Cup final when producing the game's only genuine moments of class, Zenit St Petersburg won two-nil, Arshavin was at the heart of both goals.

In truth, the match itself was like too many finals, with so much at stake, not that memorable and there were few technical skills on view. However, the Zenit number ten did more than enough to ensure that Europe's biggest clubs will be making enquiries about his availability this summer.

Rangers huffed and puffed their way through the match, but they had no answer to Arshavin who once again proved that he is the man for the big occasion. England fans will no doubt recall that he was the architect of the Three Lions downfall in the Euro 2008 qualifiers.

Paul Scholes is not unlike Arshavin in his style of play, both have the ability to unlock tight defences with killer passes, the 24-year-old Russian would be an ideal long-term replacement for the United midfield general.

As the song goes "Fergie, Fergie sign him on".