We Can't Lose Hleb, Says Wenger

Arsène Wenger has expressed his disappointment at losing Mathieu Flamini to Milan under the Bosman ruling but hopes to persuade Alexander Hleb to remain at Arsenal despite an approach from Internazionale.

Arsenal intend to complain to Fifa over Inter's interest in Hleb, who was apparently courted by the Italians while the Premier League club were in Milan for their Champions League knockout tie in March. The Belarussian midfielder, 27, an £11.2m signing from Stuttgart in 2005, could yet invoke Fifa's "Webster clause" by which players can buy out the remainder of their contract after three years provided they do not move to a club in the same country.

"What people say about the buy-out clause, it is not as simple as it looks," said Wenger yesterday. "It is much more difficult and the clubs are reluctant to do that [invoke the clause]. We want to keep Hleb, we want him to be part of our team next year. It is as simple as that. We have lost one player. We do not want to lose more."

Wenger had hoped to retain his squad ahead of next season but, after refusing Jens Lehmann a new contract, he could yet see Hleb and Gilberto Silva follow Flamini away from the club. Real Madrid's latest publicly expressed interest in Cesc Fábregas is unhelpful while William Gallas's future at the Emirates is by no means certain. That has proved unsettling, prompting Wenger to call for unity in the wake of Flamini's defection.

"We were close this year but we did not win and what I expect from my team is that, if you are a winner, you say: 'Let's come back next year and win,'" said Arsenal's manager of 12 years. "If our players are not capable of doing that and just want to walk out for bigger contracts, for me that would be the biggest disappointment. If you are a winner you say: 'You beat me now in a game but give me a chance to come back and beat you.'

"That's what I expect of a team. If they cannot do that then it means I was wrong completely in my whole judgment of this team. That would be the biggest disappointment for the club - not only to not win this year but to not be capable of coming back together."

Flamini has signed a four-year contract worth about £65,000 a week at San Siro, considerably more than the deal proposed by Arsenal to retain him. "It is a problem [the salaries on offer] but we did not master this situation [with Flamini] because when a player is out of contract he can sign where he wants," added Wenger. "I must say I am disappointed that he did that but, legally, he can do it."