Arsenal warned off wonderkid Ananidze

The 17-year-old attacking-midfielder has been a revelation in 2009, making six league appearances for Spartak to date, and becoming the youngest ever player to score in the Russia Premier League against city rivals Lokomotiv.

And the talented teenager has already represented his country at senior level, making his debut for Georgia in a 2010 World Cup qualifier against world champions Italy.

As a result, Ananidze - dubbed the 'new Georgi Kinkladze' - has been linked with a future move to Arsenal to work with Arsene Wenger and his armoury of gifted youngsters - with Sevilla, Juventus and AC Milan also reportedly keen to recruit him.

However, Spartak sporting director Popov has revealed that the player is contracted to the club for another five years and will not be leaving until he turns 20 at the earliest.

"I read the stories," he said in the Daily Mail.

"The list of clubs did not surprise me, especially the first two. They are built on continually searching for new talent.

"But Spartak haven't received formal offers and we don't intend to consider them for the next three or four years."

Gregg Davies

Gregg Davies is the Chief Sub Editor of FourFourTwo magazine, joining the team in January 2008 and spending seven years working on the website. He supports non-league behemoths Hereford and commentates on Bulls matches for Radio Hereford FC. His passions include chocolate hobnobs and attempting to shoehorn Ronnie Radford into any office conversation.