Marseille 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.
Arsenal 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 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. 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."
Milan and
Filippo Inzaghi in action for Milan,
celebrating a
goal against
Torino in the
Serie A, at the
San Siro. 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. Flamini saw limited playing time towards the end of
2009–10 season due to the great form of club captain
Massimo Ambrosini. 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. 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. On 20 June 2012, it was confirmed by the club that he had left following the expiration of his
contract, as they had ended negotiations with the player, and so he became a
free agent. Two weeks later, Flamini and
Adriano Galliani reached a new agreement for a one-year contract, with the Frenchman taking a significant cut in his wages. On 7 April 2013, Flamini scored his first goal of the season, and Milan's second of the game, in a 2–2 draw against
Fiorentina.
Return to Arsenal Flamini began training with Arsenal midway in early August, with the reason to "solely maintain fitness" with a view to signing for a club in England. Immediately it sparked media attention with claims rising that he would soon sign for Arsenal, but these reports were shunned by many journalists, pointing out that many other ex-Arsenal players had returned to train with Arsenal, including club legends
Robert Pires and
Thierry Henry. Flamini, however, did indeed sign for Arsenal on 29 August 2013 and became Arsenal's second acquisition of the summer, after
Yaya Sanogo. He made his returning debut on 1 September at
Emirates Stadium against
Tottenham Hotspur, coming on for
Jack Wilshere and helping the team secure a 1–0 win. His performances after signing were lauded by both critics and fans alike, and had featured in all of Arsenal's
Premier League,
Football League Cup and
European games since, with many seeing his signing, and his combative style of play, as one of the key reasons for Arsenal's excellent early season form. He scored his first goal in his second spell at Arsenal on 30 November, the second in a 0–3 away win at
Cardiff City. He has also scored in a crucial 1–1 draw against
Manchester City after a run of bad form from Arsenal, helping the club rejuvenate and achieve an eventual top four league finish. At the start of Arsenal's
2013–14 FA Cup run, Flamini expressed his desire to win the Cup, having been left out of the squad when Arsenal won the
2005 FA Cup Final. Arsenal went on to win the tournament, though Flamini was an unused substitute in the
Final, also remaining on the substitutes' bench when Arsenal repeated the feat, becoming
FA Cup champions again in
2015. On 23 September 2015, Flamini earned his first start of the
2015–16 season in the
Football League Cup third round tie against
Tottenham Hotspur. He scored both of Arsenal's goals with a Man of the Match performance.
Late career Flamini signed as a free-agent for
Crystal Palace at the beginning of the 2016–17 season, and released by the club at the season's end. He joined
Getafe in February 2018, making eight appearances in
La Liga before leaving the club at the end of the season. He rejoined Getafe in December 2018, and retired from playing in 2019. ==International career==