The Russian situation in England

Over the years, the English Premier League has been gaining a growing Russian influence, with billionaire Roman Abramovich taking over London giants Chelsea, and of course in the 1990’s, Andrei Kanchelskis starring for Manchester United. But what about the current crop in England right now? Only three Russian players currently play in the English top flight, two for two major London rivals, and one on Merseyside. However, if you believe the rumours, all three could be on their way out of England in the very near future.

Andrey Arshavin, Arsenal FC, 30 years old, attacking midfielder

The 30 year old Petersburg native and ex-symbol of his hometown club FC Zenit, finds himself at a crossroads in his career. Having now been plying his trade with the Gunners since January 2009, he made an instant impression, wowing the Arsenal fans with his tricky play, and even scoring an incredible 4 goals against Liverpool at Anfield. But these glory days are now long gone, and so far a poor season has led to many Arsenal fans not investing their faith in him.

Arshavin is certainly no longer guaranteed a starting berth, and dismal performances such as against Leeds in an FA Cup tie recently, certainly aren’t helping his cause in Arsene Wenger’s team. All this has led to Arshavin being strongly linked back to his hometown club Zenit, but do Zenit really need him? In my opinion no not at all, he cannot participate in this seasons Champions League after already having played for Arsenal in this competition, and maybe most importantly, he is already 30.

Zenit is a club which needs young promising Russian talent for the future, and not a player in his twilight years of his career. However having said all this, there is no doubting that the Russians would take him back with open arms, but we all know that when a star returns to their first club in their final years of their career, it rarely works out.

Overall, is Arshavin likely to make his return to Russia now? The English press certainly seem very keen on the idea, but in my opinion, it is unlikely. Arsenal are without key attackers such as Gervinho because of the African Cup of Nations, and the loss of yet another attacker would only deepen the problems for Arsene Wenger. But if not now, then in the summer, it is looking like a certainty that we will be seeing the Russian star back in his native league.

Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, Everton FC, 26 years old, attacking midfielder

A player who is in the prime of his career in terms of age, but in terms of his gameplay on the field, is anything but in his prime. Bilyaletdinov made the move from his boyhood club Lokomotiv Moscow in the summer of 2009, after proving his talent game after game for the Moscow side, and catching the attention of many clubs, not just the Merseysiders.

Similar to Arshavin’s situation, things started excellently for the Russian midfielder, having two assists to his name on his first start for Everton in the Europa League against the Greeks AEK Athens, and catching the eye of the Evertonian supporters in a very short space of time.

To add to that, he scored a high class goal against giants Manchester United, and this certainly helped his popularity rate shoot up. But two and a half years on since his move to England, things aren’t exactly quite so rosy now.

After a series of poor performances, he lost the trust of Scottish Everton manager David Moyes, and the fans have started to take a severe disliking to him too, with many abusive and racist remarks being sent to him over the social networking site Twitter, and being booed at their home ground Goodison Park.

Is all of this pointing towards a swift exit? Well in short, yes. Bilyaletdinov has been heavily linked with ex German champions Wolfsburg, and the possibility of a return to Russia certainly can’t be ruled out also. It is without doubt, that Bilyaletdinov is more likely to move away from England right now rather than Arshavin, as it could be argued that Arsenal still need Arshavin, whereas everybody connected with Everton is just waiting to give Bliyaletdinov a taxi to the airport.

Roman Pavlyuchenko, Tottenham Hotspur FC, 30 years old, striker

The third and final Russian player playing in the English Premier League right now, but his story and situation is just about identical to Arshavin’s and Bilyaletdinov’s. However, in contrast to the other two, Pavlyuchenko made the move to England a year earlier in 2008, from Spartak Moscow, after starring year after year for the Moscow giants.

The tall prolific Russia was expected to impress for the Londoners, and sure enough he made a decent enough start, scoring his first goal for his new club a few weeks after signing. However, from 2009, matches where Pavlyuchenko appeared in the starting line up decreased, and eventually lead to Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp giving the Russian the dreaded ‘vote of confidence’.

But when Tottenham qualified for the Champions League in 2010, it seemed to give Pavlyuchenko a new lease of life. Firstly, scoring a vital away goal against BSC Young Boys to qualify for the group stages, and then scoring twice against Twente at home, and even scoring a vital goal in the shock demolition job of Internazionale in London.

Through such important goals, Tottenham fans grew to love ‘Super Pav’ even more, and with this gaining the trust of manager Redknapp again. But on to the current 2011/2012 season and things have gone back to what they had been like. He’s now restricted to just coming on the pitch for the final half an hour of games if lucky, and only starting matches in competitions that Tottenham render pointless, such as the Europa League.

Clearly out of favour with Redknapp, a winter exit certainly isn’t out of the question, but where would he go? Lokomotiv Moscow were rumoured to having been in the hunt for him, as have Italian capital club Roma, and fellow London side Queens Park Rangers. Whether he moves or not this winter is another question, but the fact that he leaves at the latest in the summer is almost a given.

All in all, it is clear to see, that the fortunes of the three Russians in the English Premier League aren’t exactly great. It looks a certainty, that after the summer transfer window at the latest, Arshavin, Bilyaletdinov and Pavlyuchenko will find themselves in a different, and perhaps more homely climate.

There is no doubting however, that in each of these three players there is a lot of talent, and all three have what it takes to rescue their current dire situation. Whether their managers and fans believe in them, however, is a totally different matter.