Aston Villa may have the upper hand in the race for fourth at the moment, but that hasn’t stopped manager Martin O’Neill from lambasting Arsenal and the Premier League for allowing the move for Andrei Arshavin to go through. I wonder what Arsene will have to say about this?
O’Neill is disappointed that the Premier League allowed Arsenal to bend the transfer rules to sign a player who could have a decisive role in determining the order of the upper reaches of the league table, and he could ask a club representative to voice their objections at a Premier League shareholders meeting tomorrow.
Villa are in competition with Arsenal for a place in next season’s Champions League, and with just five points separating the sides, O’Neill fears Arshavin’s signing could prove significant. Villa have been alerted to what was described by one official as a “slight issue” with the Arsenal documents, and are reluctant for the matter go unexplained. (Daily Telegraph)
Obviously, the only reason the Premier League allowed the move to go through was because of the massive snow storm that hammered London for the last couple of days. If O’Neill really believed the deal could get done with the storm, then he’s really kidding himself. Regardless, there’s part of him that believes Arshavin could be the missing piece Arsenal need to move ahead of Villa. And that has to scare him.
What do Villa supporters think? Were Arsenal given preferential treatment due to the fact that they’re a big club? Also, if Villa were in that situation, would the Premier League allowed their move to go through?