Russian international, Andre Arshavin has been on the periphery of the Gunners squad this season, and his time at the Emirates is drawing to a close. His contract is set to expire in a couple of months and he has already been notified that he will not be offered an extension to his current deal.

Under the Bosman rule, the 31-year-old has been free to negotiate terms with rival clubs since January. He is known to prefer to stay in the Premier League rather than adapting to a new league, but has surprisingly not received any offers from Premier League clubs to date.

Most Premier League clubs will not be able to offer him anything like his current wages as he earns a whooping £95,000 a week. There are also questions marks on his match fitness, since he has featured in only 11 games this season, out of which only two were starts in the League Cup.

This has led to reports emanating from London that Arshavin could retire at the end of the season, with the winger having already told his family about his decision to hang up his boots as we reported previously.

However, according to Metro, Arshavin is shocked about his retirement rumours and wants to be playing regularly to feature for Russia in the 2014 World Cup. A source close to the player revealed: “Privately he was shocked at suggestions he would hang up his boots. With the World Cup in Brazil next year the lure of another contract elsewhere could keep him playing.”

The former Russia captain is still a regular member of the squad under Fabio Capello, but knows he would have to start playing regularly in order to stand a chance of going to Brazil. Since he has received no offers from English clubs, he will not hesitate to move abroad in search of first-team football.

The report has also revealed that the former Zenit player has received interest from numerous MLS, Chinese and Qatari sides, as well as from little known Azerbaijan Premier League side, Khazar Lankaran.

Even though he is not wanted by the Gunners, he is not considering retirement and will review his options at the end of the season.