Former Arsenal and Barcelona player Alexander Hleb has returned to the Belarusian club where he made his professional debut, the team, BATE Borisov.
The 31-year-old midfielder said he was especially motivated to revive his career at the club where he made his professional debut.
“I’m glad to return to BATE. Here I made my first steps, I left for Europe from here. I want to thank my home club, to do everything possible to fulfill their desired goals.” Hleb said on the club’s website Thursday.
Hleb won the Belarusian title with BATE in his first season in 2000, and later played in the Bundesliga for spending three years at Arsenal from 2005 to 2008.
This was followed by four seasons at Barcelona, where he spent much time on loan and made just 19 appearances in four years.
Since then, a spell in the Russian league this spring with Krylya Sovetov yielded few first-team appearances and did not lead to a permanent deal.
