Arsenal midfielder has not told anyone about the energy company for years

Mathieu Flamini is renowned for the abundance of energy he gives to his Arsenal team on the pitch but for the past seven years he has been creating energy off the pitch... and hasn't told a soul.

When environmentally-concerned Flamini left Arsenal for AC Milan in 2008, after his first spell in North London, he and his economics graduate, business partner Pasquale Granata founded the company 'GF Biochemicals' in the hope of revolutionising the energy industry.

Since then the 31-year-old has spent millions in research, trials, infrastructure and employee fees but this week Flamini announced that GF (standing for Granata-Flamini) had become the first company on the planet to mass produce Levulinic Acid (LA), which is said to be able to replace oil in all its forms.

Mathieu Flamini (left) and his business partner Pasquale Granata (right) created GF Biochemicals in 2008

Flamini employs around 80 people at his plant and around 400 workers make a living thanks to his company

Frenchman Flamini is renowned for the abundance of energy he gives to his Arsenal team on the pitch

Speaking to the Sun, Flamini said: 'We are pioneers. We are opening a new market and it's a market potentially worth £20billion.'

LA could be used in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, plastic and food industries, amongst others, and the Frenchman stands to make a lot of money, in spite of the millions he has spent on getting his factory in Caserta, Italy up to scratch.

Flamini employs roughly 80 people in the plant and around 400 workers make a living thanks to his and Granata's endeavours, something the Gunner is particularly proud of given Italy's current job crisis - Italian youth unemployment rose to its highest level ever this summer.

Talking about how his risky experiment came to be, Flamini added: 'At the start we wanted the name of the company to be Green Futures. When I moved to Milan in 2008 I met Pasquale, who became a close friend and we always had in mind to do something together.

'I was always close to nature and concerned about environmental issues, climate change and global warming; he was on the same wavelength. We were looking how we could make a contribution to the problem.

'After a while we found out about Levulinic Acid: it's a molecule identified by the US Department of Energy as one of the 12 molecules with the potential to replace petrol in all its forms. Researchers told us LA is the future and by doing research in that field we could come up with a great discovery and success.'

When environmentally-concerned Flamini left Arsenal for AC Milan in 2008, he founded GF Biochemicals

In addition to his plant and laboratory in Caserta, he also has an office in Milan and another in Geleen, Holland, with an office also in the pipeline for the United States.

That's not to mention researchers, chemist and other scientists from five European countries, as well as Egypt.

And remarkably the combative midfielder - who has had a 12-year senior football career - has not mentioned his ventures to anyone for seven years, including his family, with his parents totally unaware until a year ago.

Flamini's old Milan team-mates are sure to have found out about GF at his 'Making Levulinic Acid Happen' launch in Italy this week, with Arsene Wenger and his Arsenal team-mates only likely to be made aware on Saturday.