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Posted by Dom Raynor on 02/03/2009

Tuesday morning's newspapers seem torn between leading with Robbie Keane's safe return to Tottenham Hotspur from Liverpool and speculating about whether Andrei Arshavin's on-off transfer from Zenit St Petersburg to Arsenal will go through.

The Guardian seem the most confident that Ashavin's "extra-time" deal will get clearence. The Premier League has apparently confirmed that the transfer will be amongst a number of others that will be signed off on Tuesday.

But it wasn't easy; the Russian's agent claimed that it was an incredibly difficult deal to finalize. "It was completed in extra-time but we must wait for confirmation," said Dennis Lachter. "In 16 years this has been the most difficult transfer ever."

The Daily Express assures us that not only have the Gunners got their man but that Arshavin will join for a cut-price £10m fee, with a further £2m in add-ons, and not the £15m those pesky Russians were demanding.

Apparently disgruntled Zenit officials tried to claim the transfer had not been formally agreed at the last minute, but the paperwork was lodged with the Premier League and Arshavin had passed a medical and agreed personal terms.

The Times also report Arsenal's success in capturing the Russian playmaker; adding that despite disagreements over who, if anyone, would pay back to Zenit a loyalty bonus worth about £2.25m that Arshavin would have to forfeit if he left the club a £12m deal was done.

Arshavin will sign until 2012 on a wage of about £70,000 per week. "Excellent business" for the Gunners, the paper concludes.

The Sun turn their attention to "Rafa's £8m Rob blunder" and claim that the Liverpool manager wasted that staggering amount on his Robbie Keane nightmare.

The 28-year-old returned to Tottenham, after joining the Reds in the summer for £20m, with a goal tally of just seven - a cost of £1.1m per goal. The paper gleefully adds that Keane's total of 1,578 minutes on the pitch under manager Benitez since July cost £5,070 a minute.

The Independent claim that it was manager Harry Redknapp's offer to restore Keane to the captaincy that made up his mind to return to Tottenham. The Republic of Ireland international will be given the armband on a long-term basis with current skipper Ledley King continuing in an honorary “club captain” role.

Meanwhile, Chelsea manager Big Phil Scolari snatched Inter Milan star Ricardo Quaresma on loan from under the noses of Spurs to boost his Portuguese contingent at Stamford Bridge to SIX - capped-up for emphasis by The Sun

The winger, who played under Scolari with the Portugal national team, moved to Inter in the summer in a £24million switch from Porto, but failed to settle and manager Jose Mourinho publicly criticised him following poor performances.

Although no loan fee has changed hands Chelsea will pay the 25-year-old winger £48,000-a-week wages, according to the Daily Mail, and will offer Quaresma a permanent deal at the end of the season ... if he impresses.

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