Background
Ethnicity:
Andrey's father Sergey was a gifted amateur footballer.
Andrey Arshavin was born in Leningrad, now called Saint Petersburg on 29 May 1981. Arshavin began playing football at an early age and at seven years of age, he was enrolled in the Smena football academy of Zenit, his hometown club.
Arshavin began his career at Zenit in the year 2000. He won numerous trophies with the club until his departure in 2009 including the Russian Premier League, Russian Premier League Cup, Russian Super Cup, UEFA Cup and the UEFA Super Cup. During his time with Zenit, Arshavin was named Russian Footballer of the Year.
In 2009, Arshavin signed for the English Premier League club Arsenal, becoming the most expensive player in Arsenal's history at that time with a fee of £15 million (since surpassed by Mesut Özil). Arshavin returned to Zenit on 24 February 2012 for a loan deal that concluded in July 2012.