Alexander Hleb is one of football’s oddest cases. During his time at Arsenal it was clear to see that he was a supremely talented footballer. Whilst never exactly a showboater, Hleb was always mightily good with the ball at his feet, capable of floating over challenges and he had the ability to pick out some wonderful passes. Yet one could never quite get away from the feeling that something was missing from his game. Perhaps this was a certain indecisiveness in the final-third – in fact, the figures speak for themselves. From 2005 – 2008 Hleb made 89 Premier League appearances for Arsenal – he scored just 7 goals. Just for a point of comparison, let us contrast this with Samir Nasri, who plays a similar role in the Arsenal set-up to the one once filled by Hleb. Nasri’s Arsenal career began in 2008 and he has since made 61 Premier League appearances, scoring 11 goals, a statistic more becoming of an attacking midfielder.

Despite this, it would be churlish of me to disregard the quantity and quality of the assists Hleb bestowed to Arsenal. He was also very much a player in the ‘Wenger-mould’ – in that he is one of the last players on Earth you’d expect to see belting a hopeful long ball forward. Hleb, perhaps to his detriment was predominantly an unselfish player, only daring to shoot when no other option presented itself to his left or right. Despite Arsenal and Barcelona sharing a similar style of attacking football and overall philosophy, it was still something of a shock when Hleb made his move to the Nou Camp in 2008. Many pundits wondered where Hleb would fit into the Barcelona squad. Unsurprisingly, Hleb found the competition too tough in Barcelona’s scandalously good midfield. At one stage Hleb admitted to the Daily Mail: “I regret my move from London, but unfortunately nothing can be done about it now.” He was sent out on loan in the summer of 2009 to his former club: VfB Stuttgard. Yet, the following year there was still no room for him within the Barcelona set-up and Hleb found himself seeking a return to the Premier League.

Hleb has mentioned numerous times in interviews that he misses Arsenal’s style of play and longs to be part of Wenger’s set-up once more. However, an offer from the Gunner’s chief was not forthcoming. Despite reports that there were offers on the table from Tottenham and Liverpool (although he appears to have dodged a bullet here) Hleb eventually found the healthy wage-packet he would be receiving from Birmingham City’s billionaire owner too tempting an offer to turn down. On deadline day the Blues were able to secure Hleb’s services on the basis of a season-long loan from Barcelona. Alex McLeish seemed delighted claiming that “On paper he’s up there with the best players I’ve ever signed. He’s definitely in that bracket of ‘world-class player’.” Hleb, himself is certain that Birmingham will combat ‘second-season syndrome’ and that they “can move much higher than ninth place” (where they finished last season).

On that account, time will tell. Time will also tell whether Hleb turns out to be a good fit for the Blues. Obviously Birmingham City is a whole different kettle of fish from the likes of Arsenal and Barcelona. Does Hleb have what it takes to alter his style of play and get ‘stuck-in’? Despite all these questions remaining up in the air, having a player of Hleb’s quality and ability can only be a good thing for City. My feeling is that if Hleb works hard for the Birmingham City cause, gets his head down and adds a few more goals to his game, he could find himself being courted once more by the top teams in the Premiership and abroad. He might even find himself peaking Arsène Wenger’s interest, who has shown in the last couple of seasons that he is not afraid to re-sign players. You have to wonder, when Hleb took to the field for the Blues last Saturday and Arsenal began to reassert their control during the second half of a rather tetchy game, did Hleb long once more to be a part of this fast, free-flowing football?

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