Former Arsenal star desperate to return
Alexander Hleb has never been great at staying quiet and getting on with things when he's unhappy so it's no huge shock that he has confirmed that he won't be sticking around at Birmingham once his loan deal expires, though the mild surprise has been his come-and-get-me plea to old club Arsenal.
The Belarusian playmaker hasn't started a Premier League game for the Blues in three months and was used off the bench again in Saturday's 2-0 victory over Sunderland, and his relationship with Alex McLeish doesn't appear to be great given his constant criticisms of their style of play.
The 29-year-old left the Gunners in 2008 for Barcelona but his attempt at career advancement played out disastrously as he swiftly found himself out of favour in Spain and has since failed to take advantage of loan spells at Stuttgart and now Birmingham.
He is quoted in the Daily Mirror as saying: "I won't stay here and I don't want to stay. I enjoyed my time but this is not my way of football. Here you just need to fight, run and not much passing. This is for me something new. I will give my best for this club, but I prefer to play football.
"I would like to stay in the Premier League - and I know which club. We will speak and hopefully everything will be good. I love Arsenal and they are always in my heart. If I have a chance to go back then of course I will. In life everything is possible."
He appears rather confident of a comeback that he presumably feels would help him regain his top form but Arsenal fans are likely to be sceptical following the manner of his exit last time and lack of success in the three years since.
Following their draw with Liverpool, Arsenal are out to [14.0] to win the title. Would Hleb boost their chances of finishing first next season?
Published: 18 Apr 2011
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