The deal is done, and Arsenal have got a bargain. The club played hardball and chanced the deal falling through. This is partially an indication of hard negotiating, but necessity is the mother of invention and the club’s current financial situation means the majority of Arsenal’s profits over recent months and those ahead are earmarked for loan repayments due in the coming months on the Highbury Square development.

The idea was that completions by the off plan buyers of the flats would pay off the construction loans of the property development. But few are completing, leaving the club in something of a hole and revealing the constant promise that funds available to the manager would not be affected by the stadium move to be a false one. Still, the deal is done and it will be a relief to all when Arshavin is officially unveiled as an Arsenal player.

Today was tortuous for many Gooners, hanging on Sky Sports News as the word of gospel, when in fact sources closer to the club, such as the Arsenal Supporters Trust seemed to have a better idea of what was going on.

Ken Friar headed the negotiations with Ivan Gazidis sitting in on a steep learning curve. According to other sources, a stalemate was reached over the amount that Zenit wanted from Arshavin in return for his negotiating a loyalty bonus not so long ago and then deciding he wanted to depart the club. Who was to pay this – Arsenal or the player - became the sticking point of the deal and more senior directors became involved to broker an agreement.

Presumably due to the difficulties faced by the football authorities’ staff in getting home from work (or indeed some of them even getting in today), the formality of ratifying the paperwork has been delayed until the morning.

The £10 million Arsenal have agreed to pay could rise to £12 million with performance-related bonuses. Critically, the player is not going to earn the kind of crazy sums that his agents were doubtless initially pushing for. It seems the player’s desire to join the club may have been the deciding factor.

How will he settle? It remains to be seen. The hope is that he will have the kind of impact Eric Cantona had when he arrived in this country and joined Leeds after Sheffield Wednesday decided they didn’t fancy him. However, the player is not match fit and will need time to adapt to the English game, and the suspicion has to be that fans won’t see the best of him until next season. Still, there is no doubting his quality, and he will hopefully create enough of a buzz to give a stuttering team some much-needed impetus.

At £10 million, Arsenal might have bought a player that could ensure they qualify for the Champions League next season. That alone would justify the investment. Arsenal need a boost from somewhere to salvage their 2008/09 campaign. Let’s hope Andrei Arshavin is it.