Chelsea and Arsenal were told today by Zenit St Petersburg they will have to pay £24million to sign Andrei Arshavin.

The two London clubs are vying with Barcelona for one of the stars of Euro 2008 and the intense interest has prompted his Russian club to up their asking price.

It has been reported that Chelsea are close to securing a deal for the Russia playmaker but Standard Sport can reveal an agreement is some way off.

Although the Blues are believed to have placed the biggest bid so far of about £14m, the Russians have rejected it.

Arshavin has told Zenit he wants to leave and initially admitted Barcelona is his first choice, but a source close to the 27-year-old insists that he wants to play in the Premier League.

Arsenal's interest will only be stepped up should they sell Alexander Hleb and Emmanuel Adebayor, leaving Chelsea in pole position due to owner Roman Abramovich's funds.

The source close to Arshavin said: "It is too early to say it is a done deal. It is a question of time and money, but there is a big difference between what Zenit want and what clubs have offered.

"I expect his future to be sorted out next week, but Arsenal will need to sell Hleb and Adebayor to raise the funds to buy him."

Barcelona have still not given up hope of signing Adebayor after having a £24m bid rejected, while they have also been after Hleb.

It appears the Spanish club will only follow up on their interest in Arshavin if they fail to prise the Arsenal duo away from the Emirates Stadium.

There are other Premier League clubs interested in Arshavin as well, but Chelsea are the favourites at this stage.

Meanwhile, Ronaldinho's brother and agent Roberto de Assis has revealed he is set to ignore Chelsea and Manchester City and join AC Milan.

The Brazilian was put up for sale by Barcelona at the end of last season and has since been strongly linked to the two Premier League clubs.

But De Assis said: "He is likely to go to Milan. Everything is ready for the transfer. It is 90 per cent and we are heading in this direction."

Striker Hernan Crespo, who joined Chelsea from Inter Milan for £16.8m in 2003, has finally ended his five-year association with the Blues after his contract expired.