Flamini's replacement has been at the club a while now, Diaby is a superbly talented midfielder and should fill in with Flamini. Walcott and Vela will together take a step up and Hleb is not really needed.

Wenger does not need to replace either player, but he might wanna strengthen the squad.

Siggy, Oslo,

Hleb will go for cash not silver. His lack of goals is a key reason why Arsenal have fallen short (10 in 130 games, 27/294 in career). AW will replace him with someone better as before, but Alex H u might call Henry, Viera, Overmars and Anelka to ask them how many trophies they won after leaving.

Jeremy Green, San Francisco,

MMM, Edu all over again, Edu had a great year and left on a free. Edu,Parlour,Viera all left in quick succession and Arsenal have never had a depth in midfield since, now just when they getting there, Diarra goes, now Flam, the curse strikes, poor old Cesc left to pick up the pieces again.

David, Melbourne,

We thank Jens for his brilliant goalkeeping and wish him , M. Flamini and A. Hleb all the very best in the future. Many thanks for everything.

Antoine, Warsaw, Poland

Arsenal are developing talented young players to leave. Why invest Wenger's time and expertise when player retention is poor? Clearly there is an imbalance. I've heard fans make excuses that they are merely culling mediocrity, but really, how mediocre is Flamini if AC Milan are interested?

Stephen Manick, Port of Spain, Trinidad

Aresnal will always flatter to decieve and fall further behind Europes elite. Just when it seems Aresnal are getting there the wage structure kicks in to limit any real scope for long term improvement. Wenger more like an accountant wants just to play pretty football. Fabregas will leave next.

justin, london, england

Helb and Flamini they were not much winers gunners need much winner we have young talent players who can replace Flamin and Helb one of them is Danilson.

Also when Henry left gunners every one says it dooms day and look what we had this year young talents like Cecs and Adboyor.

Go Gunners.

Mohamad Mohamed, Melbourne, Australia

Our beautiful game has come to a mercenary league instead of professionals playing beautiful football. Keegan just said today, he couldn't compete with the top 4. Reason behind is simple; MONEY. No chance for those small clubs..... Arsenal is also a small club if you talk about spending power.

Jo, UK,

Hleb frustrated by no silverware. He should look at himself. This year he's a core part of a team that failed at a critical time. Now he blames who? The clubs lack of ambition & is off to Inter. I'm an arsenal fan. Go then I say. To C Elder: Bentely, Ashley Cole, Sidwell, all English, from Arsenal

rel, mclean, US

I agree with the previous post. Hleb was terrible for the first few months. Those used to Pires were dismayed by the lack of final ball from Hleb.Finally some better performances this season, but if we get a decent fee, fair enough, and good luck. Maybe time for Alex Song to step in for Flamini ?

Dominic de Ban, London, UK

flamini has been a great player for arsenal,his departure is a big blow to us arsenal fans.but one thing for sure is that arsene will definately find a replacement.as for hleb i am totally confused cos he's a playmaker,a tactician,an entertainer,anactor and above all a world class footballer.

martin, warri, nigeria

The loss of Flamini will be a big blow and if Gilberto also departs it is hard to see who will do the hard graft of midfield ball winning. It's alright having a creative midfield but you need the ball to be creative with.

Brian Wilson, Newport, Essex

I feel wenger should just go out and buy gareth barry great player would be a fantastic addition

timmy, watford, hertfordshire

As an Inter fan im extremly happy if we were to sign Hleb. He brings creativity and now all is needed is a quality central midfielder and we'll be set for next season. Im thinking Samir Nasri but also Joao Moutinho and Ivan Rakitic have been rumored names linked with us.

Andy Snzaccki, Black Rock, Australia,

Well said Ashley. Flamini is a tenacious but moderately talented player. Hleb is beautiful in possession but, like Eboue, is ineffective in front of goal. Look at Arsenal's goal stats and you can see that our midfield's inability to score is a major problem. Arsene's achievement remains immense.

Andy Fry, Callington, United Kingdom

John McAmahon wrote "If your star player is Fabregas, who is not even among the top-5 midfield players in Spain, then your team is in trouble."

If their star player is so useless then please explain how such a young team are only 4 points off the lead with just one game remaining.

bill, Madrid,

surely this is a case of false accounting...

arsenal have lost 2 good midfielders. they will now have to go and buy 2 replacements, with all the additional signing on fees and agent fees that come with the signing, would it have been more sensible to offer them an extra 20,000k a week to keep them?

Eddy Jone, London,

Congratulation's Arsenal for standing up to obscene pay demands from overpaid 'boys'. For once a club has made it's rules and is willing to stick by them rather than capitulate to the first prima-donna that demands more.
Let's hope this proves a defining moment for the beautiful game.

Barry Hancock, London, England

i think hleb is one of the underrated player in the modern futbol
he wud play 90 minutes without a single error
he is an asset to the club......i hope he stays.......cuz i dont really care about flamini

VISHV BHATIA, NEW DELHI, INDIA

when you see fabregas and van persie linked with other teams, you should worry. but flamini and hleb? doesn't quite seem as though the heart is being ripped out of the team.

jem, london, uk

Flamini will be easily replaced and although Hleb makes chances and is excellent in possession, he lacks pace and goals. I am sure Wenger can see this and knows what the team he is building needs.

Ted, Taichung,

The problem with "breaking the wage structure" for one player means that you then need to introduce new contracts for all the players and that would be prohibitively expensive.

Nicky, London, UK

More of Wenger's "foreign legion" leave for more money .Who cares? It is a disgrace that Wenger has not developed a single English player in his 12 years at Arsenal .
When Arsenal had an English core,it won everything.Since that core disappeared,it has won nothing .Time for Wenger
to go too.

C.Elder, Paris, France

John McAmahon, London, UK. Who has more players than any other team in the premiership team of the season? And who wants to go to a team that will most certainly not qualify for the Champions League?

John, Gibraltar,

Why would a player stay in a team that soon will be having problems to qualify for the Champions League? If your star player is Fabregas, who is not even among the top-5 midfield players in Spain, then your team is in trouble.

John McAmahon, London, UK

This kind of rhetoric about Arsenal not being able to afford to keep or sign players is un-surprisingly helpful in backing up the agenda of David Dein and whoever he might have sniffing around the club now.

Let's face it Flamini is replaceable and Hleb has 11 goals in THREE seasons.

Ashley Warke, Nottingham,

I feel Wenger needs to be a little bit flexible on the pay package of the players in order to be at per with our competitors. We are not going to spend time rebuilding the team every season . We need silvaware! and Wenger knows this better than i do.

Clifton Kyalo, MOMBASA, Kenya

Matthieu - thanks for a great season and good luck, I wish you were staying.

Hleb - an attacking midfielder who never scores and was shown great patience by Wenger and the fans during a USELESS first 18 months - go and fail in Italy like all those before you - good riddance!

dan, long eaton, england

One Frenchman, Teary On Re, thought Arsenal would collapse if he left. they did'nt, he is now unable to get a first team place in a second rate Barcelona. Arsenal have THE best manager in UK football since Brian Clough. Take the chequebooks off most "managers" and they would'nt even be in the P.L

Dixie, Hartlepool.,

How much do these players want?? Fabergas is on around £70K p/week Gallas £90K p/week. Other players on £40K and £50K p/week once they have made it at Arsenal! Must be tough living the life they do only on that much money a week.....reality check i think and respect the club that is paying you!

Paul Newman, Milton Keynes, Bucks

So despite the stories about going to Juventus as he supported them as a boy (understandable) he,s off to milan for a few extra quid. I hope he joins the long list of ex Arsenal players who find the grass in not always greener elsewhere.
He could have been a part of something special if he'd stayed

The Floss, London,

Ever since Brown closed the offshore tax loophole through which Arsenal paid its wages the team has floundered and simply cannot attract the very best it needs. Adebayor and Fabregas will be gone this time next year....

The Gooners will be doing well to qualify for the Champions League in 2010

jonathan anthony, London,

Why does Wenger expect to be able to compete with Europe's top clubs if he isn't prepared to invest in bringing top quality players to the club & remunerate the ones that he does have? I love watching Arsenal & their commitment to 'beautiful football', but they lack depth & have won naught.. again.

Dave Sandrussi, Sydney, Australia

people have no gratitude to those whom save them from nowhere to somewhere...they should at least have humanity to pay back to MR WENGER for making them ....Money is not all of the part.....PEOPLE seem to lost their moral these days.....

andy , singapore, singapore

Helb plays good football without goals/we need goal from lift and right players go to inter 5 goal a season player look man u 40+ this season

ali, heyheyhey, uk

At a time when more and more money is flowing into football, it calls for more flexibility in Arsenal's and Arsene's approach to the game. Being a stickler for certain principles is commendable but when your main competitors are ready to go the extra mile to retain players, you have to do the same..

Don A, Manchester, UK

Stanley
Winning silverware is not just about talent-you need mental toughness and and a bigger squad-factors as an Arsenal fan I question. If we continually lose players more time is spent shopping and rebuilding instead of consolidation, while our main competitors retain and strengthen theirs.Bad

Don A, Manchester, UK

Hleb is not such a loss as Flamini. His dribbling is very good but rarely results in any useful end product. In fact his wastefulness in front of goal is one of the main reason for our lack of silverware.

Hopefully Wenger will replace him with Kranjcar.

MP Allen, Trivandrum, India

I Dont care about Hleb leaving we have quality talents to be natured. Let him go.
But shuould also learn the style of retaining good players.
Stanley Abonyo Nairobi Kenya

stanley Abonyo, Nairobi, Kenya

Helb is not the first player to leave.. Its just not a problem .. Its the part of the game.. We will have some new good player according to our standard .. Go on gunners

Muhammad Zahid, Lahore, Pakistan