Flamini Exit; Bould love for Merida; Arsene's Reserve Wish

A disapointing piece of news to hit the wires yesterday was that Mathieu Flamini wants to leave Arsenal due to a lack of opportunities -and explanations- at the club.

Apparently, the French midfielder is ready to buy out the last year of his contract for £1.1million.

As usual with midfielder transfer rumours , Juventus are said to want to buy him. By my reckoning, if all these reports are to be believed, Juventus will have over 40 midfielders next season. Whilst interested in a move abroad,  Flamini is also believed to be more than willing to stay in the Premiership.




All the more worrying is that Flamini's camp insist that Wenger will not give him an explanation as to why he's not being selected. Without hearing Arsenal's point of view, I can only express my dismay that a player who has more spirit and battling skills than most of the current midfield, would be allowed leave.

I feel this situation may lie with his refusal to play at left-back at the start of the season. As much as I like Flamini, if you're a professional you have to play where you are selected. Having said that, it's never nice to work in a situation where you're not happy (although, some may say that the huge wage and the fact you're playing football for a living should be more than a comfort). One can only speculate on how resolute Flamini was about not playing left-back. Maybe Wenger thought that Flamini had a great future as a full-back but the French midfieder didn't want his career to go down the 'Lauren route'. However, I don't think it's ever a good idea to go to the papers with your tales of woe. Let's hope this situation can be resolved as Flamini is a great asset to the club.

Merida
Steve Bould has been praising Fran Merida's talents. Bould told Arsenal.com "His feet are fantastic. Everything can go through Fran. He's very left footed but he still receives on his right side and likes to put people in. He wants to receive off the back players too and gets them playing which really keeps the team ticking over."

Personally, I'd like to see this guy given a run between now and the end of the season. What I do not want to see is Arsenal depending on him next season as has so often been the case with young places in recent seasons at the club.

Reserve Teams
And finally, Arsene has declared his support for Reserve sides to be allowed play in the Football League. Whilst it would be good for Arsenal, I don't think such a move would be good for football. I think it devalues the lower divisions and takes away league places from smaller clubs with a smaller budget, but a more loyal core support than a reserve side would ever hope to have. I think the answer to the bigger clubs is to be not so greedy in stockpiling players.