Zenit St. Petersburg negotiate with Arsenal over Andrey Arshavin

Zenit St. Petersburg reportedly held talks with Arsenal over the weekend regarding the future of Andrey Arshavin.

The 31-year-old midfielder, who joined the Gunners from Zenit in 2009, spent the second half of last season on loan with the Russian champions.

Zenit were understood to be keen to re-sign Arshavin on a permanent basis, but the clubs had agreed to postpone negotiations until he returned from Euro 2012.

However, following Arshavin's staring performance in Russia's 4-1 win over the Czech Republic on Friday, the St. Petersburg outfit held more informal talks with Arsenal as they wanted to avoid losing ground in the race to sign the player, according to the Metro.

Arsenal are believed to value Arshavin at £8m.