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Arsene Wenger will step up efforts to bring Ajax defender Jan Vertonghen to Arsenal in the summer after the player admitted he will consider leaving the Dutch giants.

The 23-year-old, left-footed centre-back was linked with a £15million move to several Premier League clubs in January but he now says he wants to leave to enhance his career.

“In January, the departure was never an option,” he said to MilanNews. “But in the summer I might consider leaving for the first time.”

The Belgian defender plays alongside Arsenal star Thomas Vermaelen in the national side and Wenger has long thought they would make the ideal partnership at the heart of the Gunners defence.

Arsenal have been watching Vertonghen for a while now and see him as able to play as a defensive midfielder as well as a centre-back.

Alexander Hleb is set to arrive in Spain on Wednesday to complete a medical at the Camp Nou and conclude his long-running saga to leave the Emirates Stadium. The deal will not represent a significant profit for Arsenal, who spent £11.2 million to bring Hleb to London in 2005.

Barca’s official website broke the news:

The player Alexander Hleb, who has spent the past three seasons at Arsenal, arrives today in Barcelona to undergo a medical prior to his incorporation in FC Barcelona.

On the assumption that he passes these tests satisfactorily, Alexander Hleb could sign a contract tomorrow and be presented as a new player at FC Barcelona.

The move will bring the spending spree of new Barca manager, Pep Guardiola, to an incredible £76 million, around €95 million, having already spent £6m on Manchester United’s Gerard Pique, £8m on Palmeiras’ Henrique, £13m on Villareal’s Martin Caceres and £34.5m on Sevilla duo Seydou Keita and Daniel Alves.

The Belarussian’s departure leaves Arsene Wenger’s midfield looking light after the transfers of Matthieu Flamini and Gilberto Silva. Granted, Samir Nasri and Amaury Bischoff are set to arrive, but Arsenal are also losing valuable experience with the leaving senior players. Perhaps it could push Wenger to spend big on luring £18 million-valued Gareth Barry away from Villa Park.

What are fans thoughts on the mini-midfield exodus from Arsenal? Is there anyone you’d like to replace Flamini, Gilberto and now, Hleb?

The Daily Telegraph report that Arsene Wenger has lined up a few possibilities, if indeed the Togolese striker repays the faith shown by the Arsenal manager by sodding off after one decent season. In addition to Crouch, the Italian also suggests that Blackburn should be concerned by one of the Gunners’ other targets.

“Arsenal are exploring the transfer market for a substitute for Adebayor,” Morabito told Italian TV show Studio Sport.

“The names being talked about are Peter Crouch, Blackburn striker Roque Santa Cruz and Germany forward Mario Gomez.

“What are the chances of Adebayor joining Milan? At this stage, I’d say we are between 70 per cent to 80 per cent.”

Arsenal could certainly afford Crouch, even at Liverpool’s slightly-inflated prices, although would the striker be a success at the Emirates? The Gunners have been accused of trying to pass the ball into the net on occasions, and Crouch could serve as a fantastic foil for the likes of Van Persie and Eduardo. It’s also a myth that his strength is in the air, when he’s actually a very skilful footballer.

Arsenal fans, would you like this player at your club? Is he a decent replacement for Adebayor?

Like millions of other people, we should really believe everything we read in The Sun, but they’ve been known to get it wrong nearly all the time, that’s the problem. Therefore, when they claim in an ‘exclusive’ that Emmanuel Adebayor is demanding £120k a week to stay at Arsenal, you can’t help but feel that a) it’s an exclusive because it’s a fictional claim and b) even if there’s any truth in it, the club are not going to smash their wage structure for Mr Greedy Guts.

Apparently, Milan and Barcelona are prepared to pay him this ridiculous sum of cash and, while the Gunners might hike up his current £30k-a-week deal (it’s a wonder that the striker can afford to eat at the moment), it will be a modest increase for a player who is by no means the real deal.

Should Arsenal let him go and focus on bringing in players who want to play for the club? Surely they shouldn’t be held to ransom by a striker who is possibly the third-best at the club anyway?

“The Milan game did us a lot of good, but also bad,” he said.

“We gained a lot of credit all over the world through that game – but also at that time clubs became interested in our players. This game unsettled our season. Many clubs do not work as well as we do, and do not give a chance to young players so they looked at the quality of team display in that game, and it attracted a lot of keen clubs.”

Arsenal were certainly very impressive that evening, with every player contributing to a superb win against the then-holders. It must be frustrating for Wenger to only see clubs chasing his players when they appear in the Champions League – it’s not as if scouts from Milan and Barcelona were probably over in England watching them in the Premier League each week.

Cesc Fabregas is doing a pretty good job of showing what he’s all about during Euro 2008 – will Wenger end up citing this as a moment where clubs started sniffing around his jewel in the crown?

The Guardian report that the Frenchman has been enjoying Euro 2008, but then again, such is his obsession with football that he’d derive pleasure from two pubs teams lolling round a muddy pitch. He thinks that Germany’s effective style of football might be enough to win the day and reserves special praise for Andrei Arshavin, who he wishes he’d spotted a few years ago.

“I think Germany will edge Spain in the final. They have a belief that comes from their history and that history gives them strength.

“Spain’s biggest handicap is that they haven’t won anything for more than 30 years, play two or three games and then go home. Germany have massive belief and you saw that in the quarter-finals. All the teams were at the same level technically. What made the difference was their mental aspect.”

Wenger said: “Russia have the best movement on and off the ball, and they use space better than any other team.

“What is quite amazing is that Russia is the only country where a player like Arshavin suddenly comes to the world’s attention at the age of 27. That is not possible anyhere else.

“I wish I’d seen him at 21 or 22. I predict he will come to the Premier League, or go to a big club in Italy. The way he plays is something very special.”

It doesn’t appear that Arsenal will be able to compete financially for the signature of Arshavin, especially with Wenger mentioning Italy, where the likes of Inter, Milan and Juventus have a big bucket of cash and plenty to spend on player wages. Is the Gunners gaffer right – will Germany win Euro 2008?

The Daily Mirror report that ‘Seamo’ is optinmistic that Arsene Wenger can wave his magic wand and bring some exciting new talent to the club, although he fears for their chances next season when they keep shedding key players.

“There have been a couple of surprises in the people that have left and when you are looking at the squad, which is not the biggest in the world, it’s worrying.

“Then, when you see the names bandied around that might leave it makes you worry more. Adebayor would be a massive loss.

“No-one knows who he (Wenger) is watching and then he just pulls one out of the hat and everyone says: ‘Where did he come from?’”

Arsenal fans, are you worried about Adebayor leaving or confident that the team can cope without the Togolese striker. After all, he still missed a fair few chances in some of the key matches for the Gunners and it was his dry spell in front of goal which signalled the beginning of the end for Arsenal’s silverware hopes. Do you still trust in Wenger?

Sky Sports report that Gael Clichy, the Gunners’ wonderful left-back, has signed a new contract at the club, keeping him at the Emirates until 2012. He was Arsenal’s outstanding performer last season, illustrating that he’s hard for wingers to beat and also supports the team’s attacks very well. If Arsene Wenger wanted to show potential signings the satisfaction that can be gleaned from playing for Arsenal, he could do worse than show them Clichy’s comments below.

“In my head it was always clear: I wanted to stay at Arsenal so I did not have to look any further or to wonder who wanted me.

“It happened fairly quickly, at the end of the season I told them what I wanted, they were in agreement and the coach supported me.

“I gave them a guarantee of confidence. I am super happy. I hope that we can continue like this for another few years.

“It is just an extension of two years, so it binds me to the club for four years, so if I go to the end of my contract, it will be eight years that I will be at Arsenal.

“If everything goes well, I hope I can fulfil my contract. Once again, I really think that we can do great things with this team.

“That’s why I wanted to stay there in order to help my club to move forward and start winning trophies this year.”

What a thoroughly nice chap Mr Clichy is. No hint of discontent at what he’s being paid and looking forward to staying for the long haul. Let’s hope that the team are stronger than last year, showing the likes of Flamini, Hleb and Adebayor what they are missing, if indeed the latter pair scarper to Barcelona in the summer like the ship rats that they are.

Setanta reports that the Gunners midfielder believes his team deserved to go through at the expense of the negative Italians and you’d be hard pressed to disagree with him.

“It could have been any other penalty I had taken,” said a jubilant Fabregas.

“From my point of view we deserved our win. This is for the fans who came here in such large numbers.”

Will Spain now win the tournament? Or will Andrei Arshavin, a player who could be linking up with Cesc next season, spoil things for them in the semi-final?

Poor Arsene Wenger. He plucks players from obscurity, gives them a football and then shows them what to do with it. They then strut their stuff for the Gunners, realise they’re quite good and want a shedload of cash that the club can’t afford to pay them.

Barca vice-president Marc Ingla spent yesterday in London holding talks with Arsenal, who have so far stood firm in their desire not to sell and are quietly confident that striker Adebayor can still be convinced to sign a new deal.

However, Barcelona president Joan Laporta is particularly keen to have big name signings in place before the club election on July 6.

Arsenal fans, are you resigned to losing this pair in the summer and will they be a great loss? Last season was where Adebayor really broke through, and it seems weird that he’s so willing to jump ship at this stage in his career. Should these guys be showing more loyalty?