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Saturday, May 10, 2008

Hlebgate to follow same route as Colegate


By 1970’s Gooner

The writing has been on the cards ever since Alexander Hleb was spotted meeting Inter Milan’s hierarchy, reportedly at an ice cream parlour in Milan, the day before Arsenal’s emphatic win at the San Siro in March of this year.

If a player has made that decision to meet and talk with a club that wants to sign him and in clandestine conditions then it surely means that at the very minimum he is not discarding the idea of moving on. And in all probability he is attracted strongly to making that step over.

So it was no surprise now that the season is ending that Hleb’s agent is making the necessary noises to begin the complicated process of Hleb’s departure from Arsenal.

Hleb’s agent, Nikolai Shpilevski, revealed the Belarus midfielder gave Wenger the news face- to-face.

“Alex is preparing to make one of the most important moves of his life. “He is leaving even though Arsenal want to offer him a new long-term contract.

“Only time will tell if it is the right decision but there’s no way back now. Everything will be settled in the next two weeks” he said.

Wenger’s reaction has been emphatic and predictable.

“Nobody goes. It’s that simple. It’s about what is good for the club.”

It is an emphatic response because he is right to immediately want to stop the rot which is now creeping in with the departure of first team stalwart Flamini but also of Lehmann and possibly Gilberto.

But it is also worryingly predictable because Wenger has reacted in the same way as when Ashley Cole was caught meeting with Mourinho in a London Hotel while on contract with Arsenal.


He has threatened to report Inter and take them to court; just as he did with Chelsea and Ashley Cole.

Responding to Hleb’s intention to buy out his contract for £3million he said: “You can’t come in the next day and buy it out.

“You may have to go to court and can be banned if it’s not done right. It takes months.”

This is a statement of intent by Wenger letting the player and his agent know (and a few other Arsenal players too) that Arsenal will stand firm and if pushed will deliberately drag out the court process.

This will mean that Hleb’s transfer to Inter may be delayed (if their appeal is eventually successful that is) even later than the transfer window closes thus wrecking his chances for making the move.

But is this really the way to go? For it is highly reminiscent of the Ashley Cole case, where eventually Arsenal had to acquiesce and let the player go to Chelsea (albeit with Gallas coming the other way).

Does Arsene really believe that if this whole process ends up pissing Hleb off even further that the player will be in any state and frame of mind to play for Arsenal again?


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9 comments:

Anonymous said...

well although Gallas has been a ride I think we got a better deal than Chelsea. If Arsene can get an inter player on the cheap in return for not being awkward then again it will be a good trade. matterazi, gomes or even vierra anyone?

Anonymous said...

I think it could be one hell of a wrangle over a transfer fee.

Anonymous said...

First lets be serious...Gilberto, Jens & Senderos are finished as AFC players. Their part in the exodus was part of AW's plan so its not bad news.

Flamini has shown the loyalty of Cashley as is Hleb apparently so they have to go. Does this weaken our great little team ? I dont think so providing that AW does his usual and brings in more than enough cover.

Hleb will be replaced by Vela & possibly Dimitrov. Flamini...well as Ive been saying for TOO long now..we have a ready made replacement in Kolo or even Gallas. Both of them have proved their steel as defenders although neither are the stoppers we have needed since Tony left.

So......at most we need a world class stopper or two. We need a ball playing creator WHO CAN BLOODY SHOOT TOO, and possibly Chris Kirkland a real goalie.

Apart from that we have enough in our squad coming throug to last another 7 seasons.

As for Keagan...well Kev your looking a bigger pillock than ever with your "we cannot compete with the spending of the big four" when the toon have outspent Arsenal every year for over 10 years, as have Spurs & even Pompey. So grow up Kev and start acting like a real manager and re structure your whole team of coaches to find local talent.

Anonymous said...

i think the idea with taking hleb to court is to show that were not a selling club, other clubs have to respect us and that Wenger dectitates to the players and not the other way round. i would quite happily see Hleb rot in the reserves to discorage others. Contracts could soon mean nothing at all. Also Hleb style of football is built for arsenal will he suit inter were he will be a player rather than a cog

Anonymous said...

If reports are ture then Arsene is right to tell Hleb he is under contract and make life as difficult for him as possible if Inter or Barca want him then thay can buy him for a substantial fee. If the reports are not true Hleb should sack his agent as this conduct is insulting to his manager team mates the club and most importantly us the fans.

Anonymous said...

Agree with Anon at 11.23 am.

I suspect Hleb will go, but on Arsene's terms i.e. with a transfer fee coming into the club. After all, unlike Flamini, we paid a fee for Hleb.

I suspect that Inter put him up to this, promising to pay the buy out fee, plus a huge sign on bonus. AW is right to put his foot down and Hleb and any other player who is thinking of doing the same needs to think twice. After all Wenger is the one who gave Hleb the opportunity to make a name for himself and has stuck with him despite his limited end product. Wenger deserves more respect than Hleb appears to be showing him.

Anonymous said...

I think Wenger should let Hleb go ...it does not make any sense keeping him when he does not want to go ..it is not his fault but that of Blatter , honestly speaking that man is gonna kill club football if care is not taken ...I think we should go for the cash as no inter play fits into arsenal execpt maybe Balloti ...any soccer lover who will like to interact with other fans and dicuss any soccer related issues should check out Soccer fan base dot com it is free to join.

Anonymous said...

Nice blog. Thats all.

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