Pavlyuchenko, 26, was linked with the English club even before this summer's Euro 2008, when three goals in five games made him joint second top scorer at the tournament.
Tottenham are reported to have made an offer of $24 million for the striker, who first came to the attention of the British soccer world after his two goals in Moscow in November 2007 condemned England to a 2-1 defeat in a vital Euro 2008 qualifier.
Admitting that he had discussed the issue with Spartak's new general director, Valeri Karpin, Pavlyuchenko said that, "I took the decision not to move to England. I can tell you that the deal will definitely not go ahead."
"We were obliged to tell the player about interest from a leading English side," Karpin said. "An offer like that might come along once or twice in a lifetime."
Pavlyuchenko's apparent reluctance to sign for Tottenham is a stark difference from the 1990s, when all of Russia's players dreamt of a move to a foreign club. For example, after winning all of their group games in the 1995/96 Champions League, Spartak Moscow sold two of their top players to the lower league English side, Millwall.
Now, however, in oil-rich Russia, wages that are generous even by European standards, the status of demigods in the largest country on Earth, plus regular Champions League and UEFA Cup football mean that there is little sense in the country's stars packing their bags unless there is a very good reason to do so. For the clubs, the backing of companies like Gazprom and LUKoil means they are financially secure and do not need to sell their top players to survive.
Ironically, one of Pavlyuchenko's reasons for turning down the move was that Tottenham are not involved in this year's Champions League. However, it seems likely that Spartak's involvement in Europe's most prestigious club competition will be short and brutal this year unless the side can overturn a 4-1 home defeat to Dynamo Kiev in the second leg of their third-round qualifier in the Ukrainian capital on Wednesday.
Tottenham, who have begun their season with two straight defeats, have also been linked for over a month with another Russian star, Andrei Arshavin. Unlike Pavlyuchenko, the diminutive striker has made no secret of his desire to move to White Hart Lane. The transfer window closes at midnight on August 31, and the drama around Arshavin's move to England looks likely to continue right up until the last minutes of the month.
The London club are under pressure to secure a top-class striker after selling Robbie Keane to Liverpool, and with the imminent departure of Bulgarian forward Dimitar Berbatov to Manchester United. The side have failed to gain a point from their two opening Premiership fixtures, playing with only one striker.
