SPURS' refusal to up their bid for Zenit St Petersburg hitman Andrei Arshavin could ruin their chances of securing an all-new Russian strike force.

Tottenham confirmed yesterday that they had completed the £12million signing of Roman Pavlyuchenko from Spartak Moscow.

But any chances of bringing his Russian buddy Arshavin to White Hart Lane appear dead in the water, according to the News of the World.

The paper claims that Zenit number two Cornelius Pot told them in Monaco on Saturday how Spurs were trying to sign Arshavin on the cheap.

Pot claimed Spurs were more than £7million short of the asking price for the Euro 2008 star, who was desperate to go to White Hart Lane. He said: “Spurs were going around thinking they would get him for £13m. That was never going to happen. Spurs offered £13m and another £1.6m for the agent which was crazy. That is why we dismissed it.

“I don’t know whether Arshavin is happy to stay with Zenit because I think he wanted to go to Tottenham. We do not need to sell. If Tottenham were to offer £20m today, we would not sell. The deal is finished.”