The Belarus midfielder has been linked with a move to Inter Milan, who have expressed an interest in the 27-year-old.

Hleb's agent Nikolai Shpilevski told Belarussian paper Pressball: "Alexander is preparing to make the most important moves of his life. He is leaving Arsenal even though they want to offer him a new long-term contract and better conditions."

He added: "Only time will tell if leaving is the right decision, but there's no way back now. Everything will be cleared up in the next two weeks."

Hleb joined Arsenal from German club Stuttgart in the summer of 2005 and has so far made 89 league appearances, scoring seven goals.