by Lewis Ambrose

It seemed like this was it, the summer that Mathieu Flamini finally moved for a transfer fee.

31 years old, 12 years in professional football three different moves and not one transfer fee paid until now, when Galatasaray seemed set to complete a deal for the French midfielder.

Now that move doesn’t seem to complete, with the Turkish champions yet to offload Felipe Melo. According to Aksam Galatasaray manager Hamza Hamzaoğlu has insisted that the deal for Flamini will only go through when Felipe Melo is sold, which is yet to happen.

As a result any move for Flamini is delayed until the end of the month, and could be delayed even further if Melo decides to stay or Galatasaray don’t get what they want for the Brazilian.

Flamini hasn’t started a competitive game for Arsenal in 2015 and that isn’t going to change anytime soon. Mikel Arteta has returned to fitness and Santi Cazorla is playing a deeper role than ever. There is another year to run on Flamini’s contract but Arsenal will be eager to get a fee for a player who is surplus to requirements. The transfer would also be great for Flamini himself who, at 31, is surely unwilling to spend too much time not even making the match day squad.