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Pavlyuchenko officially becomes Tottenham player

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Russian forward Roman Pavlyuchenko has signed for the English soccer club Tottenham Hotspur.
MOSCOW, August 31 (RIA Novosti) - Russian forward Roman Pavlyuchenko has signed for the English soccer club Tottenham Hotspur.

Tottenham are reported to have paid Spartak Moscow some $28 million for the joint second top scorer at Euro 2008, making the 26-year-old the most expensive ever Russian player.

"My impressions of the club are excellent. I walked around London yesterday, and I'm going to the stadium tomorrow," the NTV+ channel reported the striker as saying on Saturday.

"People already recognize me on the streets, and ask for autographs," said Pavlyuchenko, adding that, "London lives for football."

Pavlyuchenko, who joined Spartak Moscow in 2003, scored 77 goals in 143 matches for the club.

Tottenham, who are away to Chelsea on Sunday, have failed to gain a point from their two opening Premiership fixtures. However, Pavlyuchenko said he had not been put off by the club's poor start to the season.

Pavlyuchenko had earlier said that he had taken a long time to make the decision to sign, saying that, "I was worried about my child, I talked it over with my wife. It's important that those close to me feel comfortable about it. And then I took the decision - it's very important to try and prove yourself in Europe, especially in such a serious league as the English one."

The London club was under intense pressure to secure a top-class striker after selling Robbie Keane to Liverpool, and with the rumored departure of Bulgarian forward Dimitar Berbatov to Manchester United.

They have also been linked for over a month with another Russian star, Andrei Arshavin. However, Arshavin said on Sunday that he was extremely unlikely to leave Zenit St Petersburg, who on Friday beat Manchester United 2-1 to win the Super Cup, unless something extraordinary happened, "like a nuclear war."

Zenit have rejected offers for Arshavin from both Tottenham and Barcelona as "too low."

The transfer window closes on September 1.

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