Arsène Wenger has expressed his disappointment at losing
Mathieu Flamini to Milan under the Bosman ruling but hopes to
persuade Alexander Hleb to remain at Arsenal despite an approach
from Internazionale.
Arsenal intend to complain to Fifa over Inter's interest in
Hleb, who was apparently courted by the Italians while the Premier
League club were in Milan for their Champions League knockout tie
in March. The Belarussian midfielder, 27, an £11.2m signing from
Stuttgart in 2005, could yet invoke Fifa's "Webster clause" by
which players can buy out the remainder of their contract after
three years provided they do not move to a club in the same
country.
"What people say about the buy-out clause, it is not as simple
as it looks," said Wenger yesterday. "It is much more difficult and
the clubs are reluctant to do that [invoke the clause]. We want to
keep Hleb, we want him to be part of our team next year. It is as
simple as that. We have lost one player. We do not want to lose
more."
Wenger had hoped to retain his squad ahead of next season but,
after refusing Jens Lehmann a new contract, he could yet see Hleb
and Gilberto Silva follow Flamini away from the club. Real Madrid's
latest publicly expressed interest in Cesc Fábregas is unhelpful
while William Gallas's future at the Emirates is by no means
certain. That has proved unsettling, prompting Wenger to call for
unity in the wake of Flamini's defection.
"We were close this year but we did not win and what I expect
from my team is that, if you are a winner, you say: 'Let's come
back next year and win,'" said Arsenal's manager of 12 years. "If
our players are not capable of doing that and just want to walk out
for bigger contracts, for me that would be the biggest
disappointment. If you are a winner you say: 'You beat me now in a
game but give me a chance to come back and beat you.'
"That's what I expect of a team. If they cannot do that then it
means I was wrong completely in my whole judgment of this team.
That would be the biggest disappointment for the club - not only to
not win this year but to not be capable of coming back
together."
Flamini has signed a four-year contract worth about £65,000 a
week at San Siro, considerably more than the deal proposed by
Arsenal to retain him. "It is a problem [the salaries on offer] but
we did not master this situation [with Flamini] because when a
player is out of contract he can sign where he wants," added
Wenger. "I must say I am disappointed that he did that but,
legally, he can do it"