Intro:

After his return on loan to Zenit St Petersburg from English club Arsenal, Russian international Andrei Arshavin trained behind closed doors in St Petersburg on Thursday (March 1st).

The club's Italian coach, Luciano Spalletti, said Arshavin's decision to return to Russia shows his desire to win.

Script:

After a season of bench-warming for Arsenal, Andrei Arshavin returned to the familiar frozen pitches of Russia to reunite with his former team mates at Zenit St Petersburg.

With Euro 2012 looming, the diminuitive winger decided a loan move back home was the best option to sharpen up before the competition that made him a global star four years earlier.

Arshavin trained behind closed doors, but Zenit coach Luciano Spalletti said his decision was a bold statement.

He said:

SOUNDBITE: (Italian translated into Russian) Zenit coach Luciano Spalletti

"The most important thing, a fundamental one, is that Andrei came back of his own choosing. Whether he returns stronger or weaker - we will only find that out on the pitch."

The Russian scored just once in 18 league appearances for the Gunners this season, but Spalletti said Arshavin's decision to return to Zenit shows his desire to win.

He said:

SOUNDBITE: (Italian translated into Russian) Zenit coach Luciano Spalletti

"From my point of view Andrei is returning here to a situation and tasks that are more complicated than he had at Arsenal because we want to win and as for Arsenal we don't know what they wanted."

Zenit's next Russian League game is against CSKA in Moscow on Friday.