At first, it looked like the dream had been left unfulfilled. Alexander Hleb was a free agent when BATE Borisov were drawn against Arsenal in the Europa League group stage in August 2017; the veteran, 36 years old at the time, dearly wanted to face his beloved former club and memories of his three highly successful seasons in the Gunners' shirt between 2005 and 2008 are impossible to forget. Back then, Hleb was considered one of the top midfielders in the world and he wanted to rejoin the Belarusian champions for the fifth time in order to return to the Emirates Stadium. Immediately after the draw, Hleb called BATE chairman Anatoly Kapsky and made himself crystal clear. He even offered to...
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