When Arsene Wenger initially signed Mathieu Flamini, it was yet another unknown Frenchman coming into the club – not a terrible thing, considering the success of signings such as Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry, Robert Pires and of course Wenger himself. Having simply asked for a player who can ‘run all day’, the signing of 20 year old Mathieu turned out to be a classic Wenger signing, as Flamini was moulded into a solid holding midfielder. The transfer from Marseille was somewhat controversial, with manager Jose Anigo labelling it as “beautiful treason”.
The Frenchman’s departure followed in the same manner, although he stated upon his move to AC 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.”
Never has a statement been truer, the club were in his heart forever. Wenger’s decision to bring him back a few years later was met with uneasiness – which was subsequently quashed following a spirited performance in the North London Derby on his second debut. His early season form was decent, and his combative performances garnered much praise, but soon enough, the novelty wore off and Flamini’s age and techincal limitations caught up to him.
Not as mobile as the impressive Francis Coquelin, lacking the passing range of the likes of Mikel Arteta, Flamini has slowly fallen down the pecking order, featuring mainly as a late substitute. His uses are limited, and it will come as a surprise that he remains at the club next season (meaning the club chose to exercise the third year of his contract instead of letting him go) – the squad depth he provides would be much better filled by a youngster (Dan Crowley or Ainsley Maitland-Niles perhaps), or maybeWenger is just happy to have someone so aggressive at the club to partner the talents of Jack Wilshere and Coquelin, a man prepared to inadvertently take yellow cards for the team. Or perhaps it’s all just sentiment.
