But the transfer could not be processed this evening, leaving the north Londoners with an anxious wait to find out if their protracted pursuit of the 27-year-old will be ratified.

Amazingly for a deal which has been under discussion for the duration of the January transfer window, the proposed move went to the wire.

If Arshavin does become a Gunner, it is likely to cost manager Arsene Wenger around £15m – a club record.

It is understood that Arshavin would wear the number 13 shirt vacated by Alexander Hleb when he joined Barcelona last year.

The transfer looked likely to proceed in a relatively straight forward fashion when the Zenit St Petersburg midfielder was pictured in Hertfordshire this morning, having flown into the country yesterday.

However, sources close to the deal then revealed that Arshavin was on his way back to a London airport and the transfer was on the brink of collapse.

But negotiations continued behind the scenes with the asking price, personal terms and a possible payment from Arshavin to Zenit all mooted as potential sticking points.

Wenger has been a vocal critic of the winter transfer window but is nevertheless keen to add to his increasingly injury-hit squad.

Arshavin was identified early on as the club’s number one target as Wenger looked to compensate for the losses of long-term injury absentees Cesc Fabregas, Tomas Rosicky and Theo Walcott.