Morning all,
Mathieu Flamini spoke to BBC Sport in his first interview with the English media since his move to Milan.
“Arsenal are in my heart and they will be in my heart for ever, I will always be an Arsenal fan and leaving was not easy.
“I miss my team-mates. I’m very happy at Milan but after four years at Arsenal we had very strong partnerships and it’s normal to miss your team-mates.
“I miss my team-mates, after four years at Arsenal we had very strong partnerships and it’s normal to miss your team-mates.
Everyone could see on the pitch that me and Cesc were very close and, off the pitch, we still are.”
I’ve been back to London to visit them – in February I went to the training ground to see everyone and even with Arsene I still have a very good relationship.
On his move to Milan,
“I supported Milan since I was very young so people must understand it is very special for me to play for this club,” he says.
“My dad is Italian and I have lots of family here. I can visit them and I speak Italian now so it has made it easier for us to be in contact. They are all very proud of me and it has brought us all closer.
“It was an important move for me and I’m very happy as a person and as a footballer.”
It was a very good revealing article. I would give it a full read if you have the time.
I was part of the crowd calling him Flamoney, more angry at the fact that we had just lost one of our most important players than at him personally. Now that it has been a year and we have a suitable replacement in Song, I can look back at it objectively.
If he wanted to leave and go to a club he supported as a boy, then it’s fine. At least he waited until the contract he signed was over. He didn’t go public about wanting out and force a move like Diarra did recently. He quietly left and went off to Milan, any news that came out was from our end saying he left for money. It’s clear now by the fact that his whole family lives in Italy and he supported the club as child that this move wasn’t money based. He revealed in the article that he actually received a higher offer from Spain, but Milan was a special club for him.
So there shouldn’t be any hard feelings to Flamini, he just did what he was felt right and he went about it the right way. We got screwed by losing one of our best players for free, but you win some and you lose some. Maybe the karma coming back for us was the gift of Arshavin and the fact that Song has become a great DM.
There is some injury news. Wenger, speaking to Arsenal.com said,
“Manuel Almunia was in full training today and we’ll see how he responds. Djourou was in full training also so we’ll see how he is too. Both could come back into the squad. It is not enough training to say [for sure] yet we need 48 hours more.
“Emmanuel Adebayor should come back into the training on Saturday. He could be in the squad.
“But Robin van Persie is definitely out for Sunday and for Manchester United.
“Gael Clichy could be back for the second Manchester United game. He has a scan on Monday. We’ll go from there. He has a chance to be back in full training next week.”
Great news about Almunia and Djourou. We desperately need them back in the squad. A back line of Sagna-Toure-Djourou-Gibbs with Almunia in goal is strong. It would also allow Song to partner Fabregas in the middle, add in Walcott and Nasri/Arshavin on the wings and Ade and Dudu up front, and that is a squad that can beat anyone. Losing RvP and Clichy hurts, but Gibbs has been playing well and I still think Ade/Dudu is our best striker partnership.
That’s it for today. I’ll be back tomorrow with a Middlesbrough preview.
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