Santa Cruz and Arshavin deals near

4.20pm: Manchester City's pursuit of Roque Santa Cruz is going down to the wire, while Andrei Arshavin is finally preparing to sign for Arsenal.

At first it seemed as if there would be no deal for Santa Cruz as Manchester City had refused to come up with the £25m asking price, but then a deal involving players heading in the opposite direction was apparently agreed - only for it to collapse once again.

But the fact that it hasn't been completely ruled out and negotiations are ongoing means that there is still a chance it could go through. Robinho joined City at the end of the last transfer window with minutes to spare, and just seconds after it had been reported that the deal was definitely off.

And in the other big on-and-off deal of the afternoon Arsenal and Zenit St Petersburg have, once again, apparently agreed a fee for Arshavin and he has passed a medical at the Emirates.

However, given the tortuous background of that deal there is still plenty of time for that deal to fall through, and Zenit are still claiming that the player owes them money.

Transfer talk: Deadline deals

FIRST POSTED FEBRUARY 2, 2009