The Barcelona media come out in a rash at the words ‘Alexander’ and ‘Hleb’. Signed from Arsenal in 2008 for around €15m (depending on who you believe), Hleb was a pretty big transfer for Barcelona, and subsequently a pretty big failure.
Leaving Barcelona for absolutely nothing in 2012, the transfer didn’t work out for anyone involved, perhaps even Arsenal. Hleb had been good at the Gunners, hence Barcelona wanting to buy him, and it’s a shame the way things turned out.
Whenever Arsenal are scouting La Masia, and interested in recruiting a young Barcelona player, Hleb is always an example brought up of how the English club have had far the better luck, or judgement, in transfers between the two sides over the years.
Therefore, Hleb’s comments to reuters about the move being a mistake have obviously found their way to Barcelona newspaper Mundo Deportivo. The quotes have been twisted, but the result is the same: Hleb believes it was a mistake to leave Arsenal and his career could have been different had he not.
The 35 BATE Borisov player told Reuters: “I was playing at the top of my game in London and it was the best moments of my career.
“In my first season we got to the Champions League final. We lost, but I remember this final more than the other one when I won with Barcelona in 2009, but I didn’t play.
“On the one hand I regret that I did not stay at Arsenal. Wenger was like a father to me and trusted me. I get sad when I start to think about this,” he said.
“On the other hand, Barcelona was and still is the strongest club. I did not play that often, but I still got game time.
“I was behaving like a bloke. Guardiola was young and had only just taken over the club. He could not find the right words.
“If Wenger had been in his place, he would have come up to me and talked to me. I am not blaming Guardiola. I should have behaved more professionally. Had it not been for the wrong decision that I took, I could have been playing at a top club for another five years.”
The grass isn’t always greener, as Hleb found out when he left Arsenal. The player’s career then took him to Barcelona, loans to Stuttgart, Birmingham City and Wolfsburg, a permanent move to Krylia Sovetov Samara, and then BATE Borisov, Konyaspor, Gençlerbirliği, BATE Borisov again, Gençlerbirliği again, and then back to BATE Borisov for the fourth time in his career.
