'Politics' will upset Arsene's plans, warns Hleb

The Barcelona midfielder left the club in an £11.9 million deal and is now on a pre-season tour of Scotland with the Spanish giants.

Arsenal have been hit by boardroom turmoil over the last 12 months as directors fight to keep the club out of the hands of Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov while Hleb and Mathieu Flamini have moved on after wage disputes. The club claim off-field issues have no bearing on the team but, asked about Arsene Wenger's contrbution to Arsenal, Hleb said: "Wenger is everything to Arsenal.

"The future for Arsenal, if Wenger stays, is that they will always play at the top. But of course it is difficult now because Arsenal have a few political differences.

"When he leaves, I think this is a difficult time coming for Arsenal. Sometimes I think that Arsenal do not want to keep this team, not give something more."

Hleb also claimed it would be fantastic if Emmanuel Adebayor or Cesc Fabregas were to one day join Barcelona. "These are fantastic players," Hleb said. "They would bring good energy and power to this club."

Another former Arsenal midfielder, Gilberto Silva, today revealed he is "sad" to have left north London but needed to be playing regularly. Gilberto, 31, who has switched to Panathinaikos, said: "I feel sad. The manager told me if I decided to leave he wouldn't stop me. It was my decision and he wanted me to stay, but I didn't know if I'd have a chance to play."