Arsenal midfielder Alexander Hleb has hit out at manager Arsene Wenger and team-mate Cesc Fabregas as he attempts to engineer a move to Barcelona.
The Belarus international has been seemingly on the brink of a move to Serie A or La Liga all summer but has yet to actually leave the Emirates Stadium.
And Hleb has revealed a rift with both Wenger and team-mate Fabregas.
"My view of how I should be playing didn't coincide with the manager's," he is quoted as saying in The Sun.
"I told him last season I wanted to leave and think he was quite upset about it. But ask him. It may turn out he's happy to see me go.
"I don't know where I'll be next season but I'd prefer Barcelona. It is being negotiated and, hopefully, will be decided soon."
Hleb has also branded Fabregas "selfish".
"When we get scoring opportunities, Fabregas is much more selfish than me," he said. "Given a chance to shoot, he always goes for it - unlike me."
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Comment 1 - 13 of 13
english players are pathetic and are always overrrrrrrated,the real scale out of 10
1)gerrard 7.5\10
2)barry 6\10
3)beckham 6\10
lamps 7.5\10
and the rest realllllllllllllly suck(ofcourse all of u will start mocking me,but its the truth and by the way i DONT hate england
Who is hleb? I asked the question when he came to Arsenal and will also ask the same question after he leaves. He never shoots, He always dribbles instead of passing and he thinks he is better than Fabregas. The way arsenal play make players look Good. How many players who left arsenal has performed at that same level? Hleb can go. Arsenal should buy Uche from Getafe. At least he dribbles, is faster than hleb, shoots, passes when necessary , younger and scores goals. Arsenal can't afford Ashley Young. English players cost too much. Arshavin will be good for arsenal irrespective of what anybody says.
I think Hleb should be professional and leave quietly. No doubt, his sublime skills will be missed, but as usual a worthy replacement will be got. Concern is that Arsenal can never win any trophy by changing team and building from the scratch everytime.
Well done, The Sun. The Russian press rehash some old quotes to stir up a story about Arshavin's possible move, and typically The Sun pick up on it and blow it all out of proportion. Hleb's incredibly talented, but his productivity is seriously let down by his gun-shy attitude. The sooner this rubbish is settled, the better.
hleb u have said it is from last year that you wanted to leave it is your time to go now shout up and leave quitly dont disturb our peace how many times have we seen you in the 18 box dribling and not shooting remember the game at milan how tighty it was it ces who came forward to make things happen was it selfish above all he has got more assists than any other mildfielder in the leaque now, is it what u see as selfish please pack up and go the barca bench is there waiting for u do u thing u are going to displace xavi or yaya frm the mildfield we like you because u were our player but at this point u are becoming less proffecialnal
wendy........non entity isnt that what chelsea have been for years........really you chelsea idiots have got to realise that you won as much us us last season but spent a whole lot more.....so really you should take a long hard reallity check you muppet!!!!
Hleb has been one of my favourite players and is real quality, but if there is a weakness in his game it is he is reluctant to shoot and therefore doesn't score enough, rather than slag off Fabregas he should look and learn! Get shot of him and get someone who will chip in 10 or more goals, Ashley Young would be my choice.
ronnie n, if you believe that the problem is with the foreign players, you have not been watching the same premiership as the rest of us. English players cost clubs twice as much as the equivalent foreign players. Shaun Wright-Philips cost about £20 million and Gareth barry is said to be worth over £18 million. Buying English is not the solution inasfar as loyalty and money are concerned. Their has to be a rethink into the level at which money plays a part in the game.
i never thought they looked comfortable together, and it's obvious hleb has an axe to grind, but the gunners will miss his pace, because despite all his sublime skill, fabergas is s l o w. if they bring in arshavin, they should be okay, but if they try to promote from within (theo walcott), they might start giving the tottenham, villa and evertons of the world a sniff of genuine european football.
and incidentally, it's not just football that's all about money these days ~ take a good look around ~ EVERYTHING IN THIS WORLD IS ABOUT MONEY
Regrettably the English Premier League is now basically all about money. These players get paid so much yet have no loyalty, respect for their managers or team owners and even assail their teammates. Soccer is a team game and if players like Helb who I thought was an excellent choice by Wenger wants to leave, let him go.
Its time I believe to give more homegrown British youngsters a chance and I don't think football will face these kind of problems - at least not to this extent. You give a chance to earn so much and have a good life which in the end the British soccer fans pay for and then they turn around and act this way.
Its time to put a halt to this abuse.
DOES ANYONE REALLY CARE WHO COMES & GOES AS FAR AS ARSENAL ARE CONCERNED, AS A TEAM & CLUB THEY HAVE BECOME A NON-ENTITY, COME ON YOU BLUES
My estimation of Hleb is starting to detiriorate rapidly. Yet again no one had heard of you until youp layed for Arsenal so show some respect and if you want to leave go...hurry there might be a seat next to Adebayor on the plane!!
This is quite a statement from Hleb. I wonder if the idea is to play ping-pong...tossing the ball all around the pitch for 90 minutes and hope that a goal will fall from somewhere. Cesc gets an opportunity and he takes it, does that mean he is selfish? Even then he gets to have more assists than anyone else. Come on Helb, if you want to leave Arsenal I believe everyone should be a professional and respect that, but to start creating rift within the team.....I don't think that's wise.
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