Spurs locked in Zenit talks

Tottenham are locked in talks with Zenit St Petersburg over a deal for Andrei Arshavin but are struggling to agree a fee.

Despite being on the verge of landing David Bentley from Blackburn, Spurs boss Juande Ramos still wants to land Arshavin and club officials are locked in negotiations with the Russians trying to hammer out a deal.

However, according to the player's agent Dennis Lachter, Zenit are holding out for a big fee and Spurs are so far unwilling to match it.

"At this point there is some talks with Tottenham, but nothing complete because of the high fee Zenit want for Andrei," Lachter told Sky Sports. "The gap is huge between the two clubs as Zenit are looking for a lot of money for Andrei.

"Juande Ramos very much wants to sign Andrei as he is his number one target and Daniel Levy is doing everthing to make the deal, but it is difficult to agree a fee with Zenit.

"Ramos has been following Andrei from his time in charge of Sevilla and also from last season's Uefa Cup run when Andrei was the outstanding player in the tournament.

"Andrei has made it known he wants to leave Zenit and the player has made his decision he would like to go to Tottenham. He likes the way Tottenham play football and he is a big admirer of Ramos."