Arsenal could go for Barry as Gilberto and Hleb depart

Arsenal agreed last night to allow their long-serving former captain Gilberto Silva to join Panathinaikos for free and Arsène Wenger is still unconvinced that Gareth Barry is value for money at the £18m asking price at Aston Villa. Nevertheless, Arsenal will raise £15m from the sale of Alexander Hleb to Barcelona which finally went through yesterday.

Gilberto's representatives arrived in Athens yesterday afternoon and were expected to conclude a deal for the player in talks last night with a view to a medical today. Arsenal yesterday gave their blessing for the player to leave for nothing on the basis that he had served the club for six years and also that his departure would considerably lighten the load on their wage bill. The free transfer status will also mean that Gilberto is able to command good wages on his three-year deal.

The departure of another big earner and the sale of Hleb puts Wenger in a strong position in the transfer market. The Belarusian was contracted until 2010 after a transfer worth around £11m from Stuttgart in 2005. His amortised value on the club's accounts – which decreases proportionately over the length of his contract – will be less than £3m. The fee from Barcelona represents yet another healthy profit earned by Wenger in the transfer market.

The problem is on whom to spend the money. It is understood that Wenger does not feel that the range of options open to him for filling the holding midfield place that has been freed by the departure of Gilberto and Mathieu Flamini are up to scratch. Barry is certainly an option but not at Martin O'Neill's valuation. The club believe that the England midfielder could be persuaded to come to London.

Hleb's departure is a blow but no surprise. The 27-year-old first signalled his desire to leave by meeting with representatives of Internazionale the night before Arsenal's Champions League away leg against Milan in March and has been agitating ever since. Arsenal believe that they have the replacement in Samir Nasri already on board. Another one of their new players for next season, the 19-year-old Mexican Carlos Vela, is also expected to come into the first team reckoning.

Vela's arrival has indeed been complicated – work permit issues meant that he has been farmed out to at least three Spanish clubs to gain the necessary European passport. Vela has finally arrived at the Emirates this summer after first being spotted by Wenger in 2005.

No wonder Arsenal are presenting the player as a new signing. Vela said yesterday: "I have been waiting three years for this moment and now I am here I will work very hard to earn my place in the first team.

"We are putting together a new team, a young team that wants to be triumphant. We all want to work hard and are hungry to be successful. I believe that once again we will fight as hard as we can in all of the competitions that we are in."

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