Arsenal flop Santos joins Flamengo

Andre Santos brought to a close his disappointing spell at Arsenal as the Brazilian defender returned home to join Flamengo on Saturday.Santos endured a miserable time during his two years with the Premier League club and had been linked with a move away from the Emirates Stadium for several months before finally completing his exit on a permanent basis.The 30-year-old left-back joined the Gunners from Turkish side Fenerbahce for £6.8 million ($10.4 million, 7.9 million euros) in August 2011 and made just 33 appearances for Arsene Wenger's side.His purchase was widely regarded as something of a panic buy by Wenger after Gael Clichy's move to Manchester City and the Brazilian was unable to disprove that theory with his performances.He was sidelined by a knee injury for a spell during his first season and last year quickly lost his place when England left-back Kieran Gibbs returned to fitness.Then, following the £8.5 million signing of Spaniard Nacho Monreal on the final day of January's transfer window, Santos joined Brazilian side Gremio on loan for the rest of the 2012-13 campaign.He has now returned to Brazil with Flamengo, for whom he played 22 matches while on loan from Figueirense during the 2005-06 season.Santos has also played for Corinthians and Atletico Mineiro in his homeland.Arsenal said in a statement on their website: "Everybody at Arsenal would like to thank Andre for his contribution to the club and wish him well for his future career."

Source: AFP