Hleb stays for the moment - Wenger
by Laurent Picard, 09 May 2008
Alexander Hleb is not on his way out of Arsenal according to manager Arsene Wenger.
Agent Nikolai Shpilevski declared on Thursday that the Belarus international has decided he will leave Emirates Stadium and that there is ‘no way back’.
Inter are in pole position to snap him up, and Wenger previously threatened the Italian club he might report them for 'tapping up' his player when The Gunners faced Milan at the San Siro.
Wenger wants to see his team stick together and says his priority is to keep his squad and to add some reinforcements next summer.
"You cannot stop people talking but at the moment there is nothing (to discuss),” Wenger told Arsenal TV.
"I believe that usually all the players want to stay, and I expect this team to say 'let's make a pact together, come back next year and win'.
"That's what I expect them to do and my priority is to keep the team together, add what I think can help us to even be better and then see from there.”
Wenger was then asked if he had done everything he could to keep Mathieu Flamini, who has moved to Milan on a free transfer.
"Yes. I believe that even Mathieu would concede that.
"We put him in the bracket of where we could go and we made him that offer, but unfortunately it wasn't enough.
"We have to accept that because Mathieu was a good servant of the club for four years and he came without costing any transfer fee and left without costing any transfer fee, so he was free to go."
The loss of his first choice midfielder will not urge the Frenchman to replace him in the squad and he is hopeful Gilberto Silva will stay at the club despite his frustrating season.
"I personally would like (Gilberto) to stay but he has to make a decision on that - I want him to feel comfortable.
"I like Gilberto and since he has been playing again he has shown how good he is as a player, but we will see."