Mathieu Flamini

Mathieu Pierre Flamini (born 7 March 1984) is a French former professional footballer and biochemical entrepreneur.

A midfielder, he played for French side Marseille, English sides Arsenal and Crystal Palace, Italian side Milan and Spanish side Getafe.

At international level, he was capped by the France national team on three occasions.

Flamini is a co-founder of GF Biochemicals, the first company in the world able to mass-produce levulinic acid.

Born in Marseille, Flamini was a youth team player for his local professional club Marseille.

He made his debut for the senior team on 20 December 2003 in the 1–0 victory over Toulouse.

He impressed the team as a hardworking midfield player and played 14 times for the club.

However, it was his performances in Marseille’s UEFA Cup campaign that brought him to the attention of the football world, including the 2–0 semi-final victory over Newcastle United.

He then started in the Final in Gothenburg, a match Spanish club Valencia won 2–0.

Due to his age, however, Marseille was later unable to offer him a long-term professional contract.

On 23 July 2004, Flamini signed a professional contract for English club Arsenal, rejecting Marseille's long-term senior contract offer to which he had already verbally agreed.

Soon after the incident, then-Marseille manager José Anigo stated, "This is a beautiful treason. He used me."

Arsenal were eventually ordered by The Dispute Resolution Chamber of FIFA to pay Marseille a compensation fee of €480 000 for Flamini.

Flamini made his Arsenal debut in the 1–4 win at Everton on 15 August 2004.

In his first season, he was typically used as a utility player, starting only nine games but used as a substitute in 12.

The following season saw him filling in for a number of injured players, but again unable to command a first team place in his favoured position.

He scored his first Arsenal goal on 11 May 2005 in a 7–0 home win against Everton, scoring the seventh goal, the team's last-ever goal scored in their traditional red and white kit at Highbury.

In the 2006–07 season, Flamini scored the winning goal against Dinamo Zagreb in the qualifying stages of the UEFA Champions League.

He also scored important goals against Chelsea, Blackburn Rovers and Liverpool in the Premier League.

Despite these important goals, however, he remained unsatisfied with his "utility player" role at the club and in April 2007, he admitted that he would most likely be leaving Arsenal in the summer.

Flamini, however, turned down a proposed £3m move to Birmingham City and remained with the team.

Flamini started in central midfield for Arsenal's first match of the 2007–08 Premier League season due to the absence of Gilberto Silva and Abou Diaby.

During Arsenal's 2007–08 campaign, he struck up a strong partnership with Cesc Fàbregas, keeping Gilberto out of the starting XI with displays widely regarded by Arsenal fans as a vast improvement on those during his previous years at the club.

Flamini enjoyed a generally good rapport with Arsenal's fans, who provided him with his own song, an adaptation of the theme tune to British television programme The Sweeney.

On 29 January 2008, he scored an extraordinary 25 yd strike in Arsenal's 3–0 win over Newcastle United in the Premier League.

He played on 8 April 2008, a UEFA Champions League match in which Arsenal were knocked out by English rival Liverpool.

After the match, he was reported injured and it proved to be his last match for Arsenal.

Flamini signed a contract with Italian club Milan on 5 May 2008.

Flamini wore the number 84 on his shirt to represent his year of birth.

He made his Serie A debut on 30 August 2008 in a 2–1 loss to Bologna.

Initially, Flamini did not enjoy the number of starts or appearances for the Italian team, and was regarded as a utility player at Milan.

Nevertheless, injuries to other players and his consistent good form helped him to cement a starting place at San Siro.

With Milan failing to find a stable defence and a lack of a fit, consistent and reliable right back, Gianluca Zambrotta was switched to the left flank to help Flamini develop as a tenacious right back.

After stating that his preferred position is in the midfield, Milan re-deployed him as a defensive midfielder.

In April 2009, he stated in an interview that he is still an Arsenal fan and that he has no hard feelings towards the club: "Arsenal are in my heart and they will be in my heart for ever," he said.

"I will always be an Arsenal fan and leaving was not easy."

Flamini saw limited playing time towards the end of 2009–10 season due to the great form of club captain Massimo Ambrosini.

After playing as a rotation role in the 2010–11 season, he injured himself in a pre-season training session, suffering a serious knee injury which required an operation.

Flamini spent the entire 2011–12 season out.

In the following season, Flamini became an important asset of the team that would win its 18th scudetto, playing many games as starter and scoring two goals against Bari and Bologna, respectively.