I cried when Arsene Wenger tried to keep me, I should’ve stayed at Arsenal
Former Arsenal star Alexander Hleb has been remarkably open in recent years about how much he regrets his decision to leave the Gunners and join Barcelona in 2008.
The former Belarus international divided opinion for much of his time at Arsenal, having started slowly before really starting to show glimpses of his best form in his final season at the Emirates Stadium.
That prompted Barca to move for Hleb, and things went downhill from there, with the silky playmaker not getting much playing time in that famous Pep Guardiola side.
Even if Hleb looked like a good fit for the Barcelona style of play, there was simply too much competition from so many world class attacking midfield players there at the time, so it’s perhaps not too surprising that he spent a lot of time warming the bench.
Still, it seems Hleb also had his doubts about leaving Arsenal before the move even went through, and one imagines that affected his confidence.
Speaking on a podcast back in 2020, Hleb revealed that he cried during meetings with Arsene Wenger, who tried to talk him into staying at Arsenal, whilst adding that he was perfectly happy in north London and doesn’t know why he left.
Alex Hleb: I don’t understand why I left Arsenal
“Many years later and I still think about it,” Hleb said. “I don’t understand. To this day I still don’t understand what happened or why I made the decision.
“Of course, Barcelona in that moment was the best team in the world but I was really happy at Arsenal at the time. I had friends, I enjoyed the coach, I was playing for one of the best teams, the fans, the stadium, everything! The fantastic championship, the Premier League, everything!
“Why I left, I don’t understand. Barca, of course, were the best team at the time and everybody wants something to try but really I was 100 per cent happy at Arsenal.
“I cried when I talked to Arsene [Wenger]. We talked in the holiday before I left and he told me he wanted to keep me and I was important. I cried. I didn’t know what to do in that moment.
“Of course, Barca is a fantastic team. I won titles and everything but I didn’t play as much as I did at Arsenal. This is only my mistake because at the time, a lot of things happened in my private life. I started very nervously [at Barcelona]. Always aggressive. It was only my mistake.
“This is not a situation where Guardiola didn’t trust me or something like that. No, this is only my mistake. At Arsenal I was happy, you know? When you’re happy in the team, you need to stay.”
Clearly, a big move is not the no-brainer that some fans and pundits make it out to be – Hleb was perfectly happy at Arsenal and would likely have done better to simply stay put.
This happened during a generally difficult period for the Gunners, with other key players such as Thierry Henry, Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie also leaving the club within the space of a few years.
Most of those moves worked out better than Hleb’s did though, but we’re sure there’ll be more than a few other players out there whose big moves didn’t go as they expected.
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