Mathieu Flamini has given an interview in France and the journalist mentions that the midfielder is discussing an extension with the club.

Flamini is out of contract this summer and was widely expected to leave along with Mikel Arteta and Tomas Rosicky, whose deals also run out at the start of June.

But as Arsenal announced that those two would be leaving, very little was said about Flamini.

Now, on the French site Les Echos, the journalist interviewing the shouty/pointy one said the following:

“While his contract expires in June, and its renewal is still under negotiation, he has already prepared for his “life after football” by investing a major part of his savings in a project that attempts to marry economy and ecology. “For years, I didn’t tell anyone: not even my family” he says.”

It’s mostly an interview about his biotech firm, but this part certainly stood out.

As you’ll notice, Flamini doesn’t confirm (or even mention) that he’s in negotiations, but he also doesn’t deny it either.

Can it be true?

Much was made of Arsenal removing Flamini from the kit builder when they released their new kit but that doesn’t overly prove much. He might be joining everyone else in the squad in getting a new number. He might be leaving. Arsenal might just be hedging their bets. It could also have been a technical glitch. Who knows?

While many are happy to have Flamini remain at the club as a squad player, others question just what he brings to the squad other than his friendship with Mesut Ozil.

A liability on the pitch, he made 24 appearances last season (averaging 70 minutes per game, much more than I was expecting when I checked the stats) but given the number of injuries Arsenal pick up, can we really afford to waste a squad space on a player who nobody really trusts to play unless we have no other choice?

Still only 32 and with plenty of life left in his legs, he could certainly do a job for plenty of other clubs, that’s for sure. Arsenal are not one of them.

Hopefully this is all just a big misunderstanding and Wenger takes the chance to free up a vital squad spot for a player who can bring far more to the side. Like brains.