Arsenal delete tweet wishing former Russian player Arshavin happy birthday

Arsenal have deleted a tweet wishing ex-player Andrey Arshavin a happy birthday amid controversy over the Russian allegedly vowing to fight for his country in their war with Ukraine.

Arshavin, who made 144 appearances during his five-year spell at Arsenal, turned 42 on Monday and the north London club paid tribute to their former winger with a birthday message on Twitter.

Alongside a video of one of his greatest moments in a Gunners shirt, when he scored all four of their goals in an epic 4-4 draw away at Liverpool, they wrote: 'Wishing you a great day, Andrey'.

However, after posting the birthday tweet Arsenal quickly drew criticism from Ukrainians, who hit out at the Premier League side on social media for sending well wishes to a Russian.

One user also claimed that Arshavin, who regularly works for Russian state TV, has also pledged to fight for his country in the war if conscripted.

Last year, Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a war which is still ongoing today. It is believed around 9,000 civilians have lost their lives as a result of the conflict.

Ukrainian football account @ZoryaLondonsk wrote: 'It’s another week & it’s another club throwing itself into a social media scandal involving ‘good fortune’ towards russia / a russian…

'Last October arshavin said he’d serve in the russian army (v Ukraine) if conscripted + regularly works for russian state TV… Terrible optics'.

Another asked how Oleksandr Zinchenko, the Ukraine international who currently plays for Arsenal, would feel about their birthday post for Arshavin.

@KarpatyLvivFC put: '28 may: russian army attacked Zhytomyr region, home region of Alex Zinchenko, by a missile strike 29 may: Arsenal send greetings to russian player andrey arshavin How Zinchenko and all Ukrainians must feel about it, @Arsenal?'

After enraging a number of Ukrainians on the platform, Arsenal acknowledged the controversy their Twitter post had created and therefore deleted it from their account.

Yet one Russian user leapt to the support of Arshavin and commented: 'You can delete the post, but you can't erase your history'.

Arshavin became a cult hero during his time at Arsenal, mainly following his incredible four-goal haul against Liverpool.

The Russia international never clinched silverware with Arsene Wenger's side, however, and left in 2013 to head back to Zenit St Petersburg.

Having made 310 appearances for Zenit before joining Arsenal, Arshavin racked up another 66 for his boyhood club before winding down his career in Kazakhstan with Kairat following another brief stint in Russia with Kuban Krasnodar.