Arsenal's long-running pursuit of Andrei Arshavin appears to be reaching a successful conclusion after the Russian forward reduced his wage demands.

A deal between the London club and Zenit St.Petersburg had stalled after personal terms with Arshavin could not be agreed. However, sources in Russia now claim the player has agreed to receiving £2.5m-per-year, as opposed to the originally requested £3.5m, freeing up Arsenal to pay Zenit £15m, a figure that should see the transfer go through before the close of the current transfer window.

Speaking today, the Arsenal manager, Arsène Wenger, said a deal was "91%" completed but remained cautious on the transfer going through before Monday's deadline. The Frenchman also denied a report from Sky Sports News this morning stating that Arsenal had already secured a work permit for Arshavin.

"It's very difficult to predict what will happen. In stories like this there can always be late developments even on the last day of the transfer window," said Wenger. "Whether we are close or not has little meaning - it does not matter how close you are, what is important is that you agree. At the moment, we have no agreement with anybody for any transfer.

"We are always confident, we try our best and respect our budget. If we can find an agreement, we will do it, if we cannot we will not overspend what we have planned to do. We have not applied for a work permit yet for Arshavin or anybody else."

Even if he does land Arshavin in the coming days, Wenger remains against the transfer window. "I do not like it," he said. "Every press conference is a bore about players who might come in than about the players who play and do something for the club.

"Others get too much importance at a part of the season where it is more important that you rely on people who fight for you than for those who might come in - that cannot be a great help for the club at the moment."