LONDON - ZENIT St Petersburg is holding up the sale of Russia playmaker Andrei Arshavin to one of Europe's premier clubs by asking for a huge transfer fee to be paid in a single installment, according to his agent.

Arsenal and Juventus are rumored to be interested in the 27-year-old Arshavin, but Dennis Lachter said on Wednesday that Zenit was preventing any move by refusing to consider payment in stages - which is the usual practice in football.

'They want all of the money all in one payment,' Lachter told The Associated Press. 'They paid 30 million euro (S$60 million) to CSKA Moscow for Danny and now they want it the same way.'

Zenit signed the Portuguese midfielder in August, smashing the previous Russian record of 16 million euro.

Zenit is reportedly asking about 20 million pounds (S$44 million) for Arshavin and Lachter said no club had made an official bid for his client.

'Many clubs are just afraid of how Zenit and other Russian clubs do business,' Lachter said.

Lachter said that Zenit had already stopped an attempt by Premier League side Tottenham to sign Arshavin, with the clubs never even close in their valuation of a player who scored two goals in three games at last year's European Championship.

Arshavin is desperate to leave Zenit, Lachter said, and unhappy that the club is making it hard for him to leave after he helped it win the 2007 Russian league and the following year's UEFA Cup.

'He is upset for half a year already,' Lachter said.

Spurs were in negotiations for more than a month during the last transfer window but eventually signed Arshavin's international teammate, Roman Pavlyuchenko, from Spartak Moscow for 17 million euro.

Despite Zenit's intransigence, Lachter still expects his client to leave, possibly during this month's transfer window.

'That is what is going to happen,' Lachter said. 'There are 10, 15, 20 teams who are interested in him. The question is can they afford him?' -- AP