I've heard they are paying him nearly double what Arsenal offered.

Probably as Arsenal dont give there players nearly as much as the other big teams in europe. It was rumoured than Inter were willing to offer Hleb 5x as much as he earns at the moment.

He's probably on about £25k a week, so it's not unthinkable. Although £125k a week would be ridiculous. Hleb is good, but not that good!

How do you know this Yobbo? I did read that Arsenal spent quite a lot towards wages.

They have a wage structure which meant they couldnt offer Flamini nearly as much as he wanted and Milan offered. Im not saying they pay them crap money its bound to be more than most clubs in europe but no where near the amount teams like Chelsea, Milan, Real Madrid and the likes pay their stars.

Not as much as the other big 4. Arsenal utilize a salary cap (Henry was the exception for one year). They reportedly offered Flamini £50-55k a week while I believe Milan offered him double.

Fabregas is the top earner at Arsenal on 60k

Terry get's 130k, Ballack 120k, Lampard 120k

Torres 120k, Gerrard 120k

Ronaldo 140k, Rooney 130k.

As you can see they pay half of what the other three pay in wages.

This was in the Daily Telegraph just today.

all this crap about Arsenal being paupers is ridiculous. they earn three million pounds every home game from gate receipts alone. the money is there but they choose not to utilise it. thats their own doing. they are not poor or hard done by in the slightest.

if they choose to be tight and not offer any competitive wage then how can they expect their players to want to stay? especially a player who was only out of contract in the first place because wenger was going to move him on before flaimini had his first and only good season in an Arsenal shirt.

they have nobody to blame but themselves and they are only deflecting the attention away from their mishandling of the situation by bleating about wages etc.

Torres took a pay cut from Atletico Madrid, where he was on around £103k.

And i doubt the likes of Gallas would have come from Chelsea to Arsenal and settled for less than £60k, as must've happened if Fabregas is there top earner on that amount

I have read a while back that Arsenal spend more on their wages than Liverpool, and aren't exactly a world apart from United.

But then what do you believe?

although old, this was found on Arsenal fans site....

By Jonathan Chong on Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Arsenal's wage bill has soared to more than £80 million in the last year, from £66 million the previous year.

The Gunners' wage bill is the second highest in England, after Chelsea at £109 million.

One of the increases in wages has been due to vice-chairman David Dein doubling his salary from £250,000 to £500,000 - after bonuses were added on due to a successful European campaign.

Managing director Keith Edelman earned an estimated £1 million from last year.

Whether the new inflated figures have taken into account Thierry Henry's new wages at £150,000 a week remains is unclear

Ah come off it sticky. We all know you hate Milan & always have a dig at them every chance you get.

Milan had been accused of something totally different to what Juventus had done.

It's like saying someone who breaks the speed limit deserves the same punishment as a rapist.

They all should have been relegated. Cheating is not acceptable.

tell that to all the divers, general ref conning and all the other crap that goes on in every game

but..

I'm reporting what the paper said. Not my newspaper of choice but it's a reputable paper nonetheless.

They should be stricter on that too but it's not comparable to the kind of cheating that went on in Italy.

and what kind of cheating went on in italy, are you informed at least?

I do not need to prove anything to you. I am aware what went on.

ok so what was Milan's crime?

Really frustrating to lose such a lovable player who has served us very well. He became a new player this season as well, and has probably been our best player. So consistent and so strong. 100% reliable and improved his technique as well.

It's a big loss and it's a real pity. I was sad to lose Edu, but this is different - Flamini had the starting position and the love of the fans.

Milan are a great Club though, so I wish Mathieu all the best.