Barcelona’s Alexander Hleb has snubbed the loan move to Inter Milan arranged by his employers and defiantly chosen to move back to Stuttgart on a twelve month loan instead.
It was Stuttgart where the Belarusian international first made his mark, attracting the attention of Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger. Hleb moved to Arsenal in 2005, but to me despite his obvious qualities he has never really fitted into the either the English or Spanish game.
Since arriving at Barcelona everything has turned pear shaped for the player. He was used mostly as a substitute if at all by Barcelona in their treble winning season and despite picking up medals he must feel that he has had little chance to make a contribution.
How it will affect the deal that took Eto’o to Milan and Ibrahimovic to Barcelona, if at all, has not been reported.
Another player who has struggled in England is the Brazilian Elano, who has agreed to end his time at Manchester City and move to Galatasaray. Elano could do no wrong when Sven Goran Eriksson signed him for City, but his up and down form has seen him used far less since.
Mark Hughes has said that not being able to offer the player regular football was the reason that Elano chose to leave Manchester City.
0 comments so far
There are no comments for this post yet. Why not be the first by filling out the form below.