Stuttgart wants to keep Hleb longer

Speaking to journalists after Stuttgart's Champions league qualifier win against Timisoara, Stuttgart sports director Horst Heldt said that the club would want to keep Stuttgart attacker and Barcelona loan out Alexander Hleb (28) after the loan deal expires next summer:

"He's here for now, which is already a good thing. But of course we would want him to stay with us for a longer period."

Asked about the statements, Hleb said in an interview with German sports weekly Sport Bild that it could be an option for him: "I'm really happy when Horst Heldt says that he wants to have me with the club for a longer period. We will see what will happen."

watch Hleb scoring for Stuttgart here

Hleb scores in Champions League qualifier

Stuttgart player and Barcelona loan out Alexander Hleb scored yesterday the second goal of his team in the Champions league qualifying game against Timisoara.

Hleb regrets leaving Arsenal for Barcelona

Speaking to American football site ESPNsoccernet, Stuttgart attacker and Barelona loan out Alexander Hleb (28) has repeated that he regrets his move from Arsenal to Barcelona:

"Of course I regret leaving Arsenal. I was playing every week for one of the most exciting sides in Europe, a team which was always in the top-four in the Premier League and were Champions League contenders.

Also, I was being guided by one of the best coaches in the world in Arsene Wenger. I owe him a great deal. I developed a better all-round game under him and I became more robust physically, learnt to look up more and play better passes and generally improved greatly as a team player. No player ever gets worse under Wenger.

For me, leaving Arsenal was not a good move. A footballer only exists when he takes to the field and makes a proper contribution to the team and even though I was part of a Barca squad that was almost unstoppable, it was hard not to feel detached from all the happiness and celebration at the end.

Barca were my dream club as a kid, but I couldn't continue with them if the chance to play was not coming. I'm 28 and who knows how much time I've left in the game. I needed to move on and the chance to go back to a place that I feel happy in was the best solution.

I'm happy to be back in Germany. It was more a pro-Stuttgart than an anti-Inter decision. I was coming off the back of a season almost entirely spent on the bench at Barca and just wanted to go to a team where I was completely comfortable and could play regularly.

I needed to bounce back at the first possible opportunity and returning to Stuttgart is a low-risk way of setting about it as this club is like home to me. Even though Bayern Munich showed interest in me and I was tempted, Stuttgart's offer overrode everything."

read the full interview report here


Read more:
Stuttgart wants to make Hleb loan permanent
Hleb regrets Barcelona move
OFFICIAL: Hleb to Stuttgart on loan