Andrei Arshavin has backed Arsene Wenger's decision to sell Emmanuel Adebayor to Manchester City despite believing Mark Hughes' side can challenge the Gunners for a top four slot.

EmpicsArshavin: Glad Adebayor got the boot.

The Togo striker left for Eastlands last week for a fee of £25m, but Arshavin says the club should not keep players who want to leave.

He told Sports Weekend: "We lost a very strong player [Adebayor] and bought a good defender [Thomas Vermaelen from Ajax]. At the same time, our team continues to be one of the best in the English Premier League, even despite the fact that Adebayor left.

"If he wanted to leave, then it wasn't necessary to keep him in the team. Especially if the player doesn't want to turn out for us."

Arshavin thinks Arsenal will have a clutch of challengers for the Champions League places next season, but thinks the title winners will again come from the Premier League's so called 'big four'.

He said: "The champions will be exactly one of those four teams," he added. "With regard to the fight for the Champions League, Manchester City, Aston Villa, Everton and Tottenham will join them.

"The positive thing I see is that we do not play on January 1. On the other hand, we have a very difficult start, with four serious contenders at the very beginning.

"Then will be the Champions League matches and getting into this tournament is one of the main objectives at the start of the season. It won't be easy, but I hope that we can handle it."