Wenger: We did nothing wrong in Arshavin deal

Manager Arsène Wenger is adamant that the club have done nothing wrong in the transfer of Russian playmaker Andrey Arshavin to the North London club.

Some Premiership clubs such as Aston Villa are claiming that the Gunners were given special treatment in the last-minute signing of the Russian international.

Villa are questioning why it took so long for the deal to be confirmed by the club when the transfer deadline had already passed.

Wenger said: “It was done in the last minute, but regularly. We have nothing to hide.

“We just did the deal very late in the afternoon, sent it to the Premier League and they ratified it.

“Of course, we want everybody to question the deal. If the deal was not right we would have cancelled the transfer and accepted it. We have done nothing wrong.

“We were not the only one in this case. In every transfer window you have at least 10 or 15 clubs who have to wait until the next morning usually to get agreement from the Premier League.

“We just didn’t want to announce it as long as it wasn’t officially accepted.”