Alexander Hleb's Biography

Alexander Hleb was born on May 1st 1981, in Minsk.

He is a Belarusian international footballer and generally plays on the right side of midfield.

In 2000 Hleb joined German side VFB Stuttgart from BATE Borisov.

In 2005, however, after establishing himself as one of the most important players in the Stuttgart side, Arsenal came in with a £10m offer and secured Alexander Hleb's services.

Alexander Hleb is widely considered one of the most talented attacking midfielders in Europe. Known for his superb speed and determination, Hleb is particularly skilled at taking players on with the ball at his feet.

There had been some criticism of Hleb's goalscoring rate. In November 2007, Hleb told The Times:

"Last season, the manager and my agent, Nikolai Spilevski, both told me I should shoot more often. I would often pass the ball when I had a chance to score myself. Now I am going for goal more often and it’s producing results."

Hleb had been quickly off the mark for The Gunners scoring on his debut for Arsenal in a friendly against Barnet in July 2005.

Alexander Hleb's official debut for Arsenal was against Chelsea in the Community Shield on August 7, 2005.

Alexander Hleb went on to be an important of the Arsenal team making a valuable contribution to their famously attractive build-up play.

In July 2008, Alexander Hleb was transferred to Barcelona for an estimated £11.9m.

In 2009/10 Alexander Hleb was on loan to Stuttgart in the Bundesliga and in the 2010/11 season he was loaned out to Birmingham in the Premiership.