Arsenal's increasingly tortuous pursuit of the Zenit St Petersburg playmaker Andrei Arshavin was cast into serious doubt last night after the Russian club claimed the deal was being jeopardised by the player's excessive wage demands despite the clubs having agreed a £14m fee.

Zenit, aware that Arsenal had set a deadline of midnight last night to conclude negotiations over the fee for the 27-year-old, released a statement after a protracted board meeting in which they attempted to shift the blame for the delay in completing the move squarely on to Arshavin. The club insisted it had reduced its original £17m valuation of the player but was now seeking a one-off payment from him, as cited in Arshavin's £100,000-a-week contract, to make up the shortfall.

That, in turn, appears to have prompted Arshavin to seek better terms from Arsenal which could yet wreck the transfer. The Zenit chief executive, Maxim Mitrofanov, stated last week that personal terms had been agreed "in principle" between the midfielder and the Premier League club, thought to be around £80,000 a week. The Russian club implied that Arshavin, facing the prospect of making a compensation payment of about £3m to Zenit to smooth his departure, is now effectively attempting to secure that money back from Arsenal with a higher weekly wage.

"A fundamental agreement over the fee in the transfer of the player has been reached between the clubs, subject to a medical," said Zenit. "But, at the moment, the basic obstacle preventing the transfer going through are Andrei Arshavin's personal terms. The player and his agent have made it clear to Arsenal that they will require a higher wage, which the management at Arsenal are not prepared to pay. At the moment, Arsenal will only satisfy those demands at a lower transfer fee. This puts the whole deal in doubt."

Arsenal's position has not changed throughout the negotiations, with the London club having made it clear that they would only pay the fee and wages that they deem to be reasonable for a player who has never graced a club outside Russia. The deadline Arsenal set for last night reflected their growing frustration at the impasse. It remains to be seen if they will complete a deal after this latest twist in discussions, although Zenit, aware that the player's value will have decreased dramatically by the summer when he will be 28 and able to buy out the remaining years on his contract, were at pains to stress that they remain "ready" to sell.

The Russian club detailed a compromise it had proposed to Arshavin to move the transfer towards fruition. The club claimed that when the player signed a four-year deal in the summer of 2006, a clause had been inserted whereby Zenit were entitled to receive an equivalent sum to half a year's wages – some ¤2.5m – should the player push to leave before the contract was up. In this case, that would effectively swell the £14m compromise fee nearer to the £17m the Russian club had hoped to secure.

The latest setback is likely to further damage relations between the Russian club's hierarchy and Arshavin, who is in Dubai for pre-season training. There remains the possibility Arsenal may abandon their pursuit, particularly as Tomas Rosicky returned to light training – albeit confined to just jogging – at London Colney yesterday after a year-long absence with hamstring tendon injury. The Czech is still some way off a first-team return, and Arsene Wenger has suggested he may not play this season. "But it is a huge and positive advance in his situation," said the player's agent, Pavel Paska.