With Hleb's attitude and fitness coming under fire from the Birmingham coaching staff and management team, he's failed to show anything either on or off the pitch to suggest that he still has what it takes to play at the highest level of English (or Spanish) football. With Barcelona's midfield packed full of talent and with the club keen to recruit through the youth ranks rather than rely upon fading stars of old, it seems that Hleb's future lies away from the Nou Camp and away from Birmingham City. Those who have placed a football online bet this season won't have been impressed by his attitude.

However, the question remains as to who would want someone who has not only failed to fit in at a team like Birmingham but has also failed to recognise the fact that he needs to improve his game. With Hleb clearly itching for a move back to Arsenal but stating in the press that he doesn't like to "fight and run", which life at Birmingham clearly involves more of than life at Barcelona or the Gunners, it remains to be seen whether Arsene Wenger would want to acquire a man not willing to put in a shift or two for the good of the team.

Should Hleb find his level in the Premier League and prove that, with a run of games under his belt and with the right attitude, he can get back to the sort of form that made him a key man in Wenger's midfield, the league could yet benefit from another returning Arsenal star.