Football Transfers 'A Volatile Betting Market'

The potential transfers of Cristiano Ronaldo and Andrei Arshavin have attracted a fair amount of sports betting activity in recent weeks, according to one bookmaker.

Football transfers is "an extremely volatile market" in terms of sports betting, it has been suggested.

According to bookmaker William Hill, events change quickly and it is "difficult to keep an eye on" what is going on.

The speculated transfers of Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid and Zenit St Petersburg's Andrei Arshavin to the Premier League have apparently provoked some betting activity among punters.

Rupert Adams, public relations executive at William Hill, claims that these deals highlight the unpredictability of the market.

"A few days ago we were odds on that [Arshavin] would not join a Premiership club but within six hours we were totally the opposite way round and were odds on that he would," he said.

The Russian player has been linked with Tottenham Hotspur and Barcelona since impressing in Euro 2008 for Russia. It appears his club are holding out for a fee of £20 million before letting him go to another team.