The media have linked Golovin with a move to Arsenal a lot in the last year or so. The player himself even spoke about their interest just a few days ago. Before the quarter-final second-leg Wenger admitted he liked what he was seeing from the player.

The performance on Thursday night did nothing to quell that interest. In fact, Golovin was probably CSKA’s star player, and his long-range effort forced a rebound for their second goal. Once again, reporters asked Wenger about his interest in the player after the match.

“I would turn it round,” he responded. “Golovin is a very interesting player and had an outstanding game tonight. We are not in transfer mode, I would say I could not see one bad player on CSKA Moscow tonight.”

Clearly the manager likes what he sees in the 21-year-old, despite his attempts to shift the focus to the CSKA team in general. As he points out, the club need to stay focused on the task at hand before thinking about transfers, but this tie certainly can’t have done any harm to the chances of Arsenal making a summer move.

The player grabbed an assist against Manchester United earlier in the campaign, as well as his free-kick against Arsenal last week. Clearly he knows how to play against English opposition.

Golovin’s agent also confirmed Arsenal’s interest in the player last November.

Next, Aleksandr scout report – who is he, strengths, weaknesses and how he’d fit at Arsenal