To lose one midfielder, Mr Wenger, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose two looks like carelessness…The Sun – bastion of journalistic purity that it is – reports that Alex Hleb is going to buy out the last two years on his contract and elope with Inter Milan, so says Hleb’s agent Nikolai Shpilevski:

“Alex is preparing to make one of the most important moves of his life.

“He is leaving even though Arsenal FC want to offer him a new long-term contract.

“Only time will tell if it is the right decision but there’s no way back now. Everything will be settled in the next two weeks.”

Actually, the above declaration from Shpilevski seems a little muted, perhaps worried even – is this going to be a good move for Hleb?

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