SOCCER:BELARUS midfielder Aleksandr Hleb has signed a four-year contract with Barcelona to complete his move from Arsenal.
The 27-year-old, a long-term target for Barcelona, flew to Spain yesterday to take his medical, arriving just after the club had agreed to sell Brazilian Ronaldinho to AC Milan for an initial fee of €21 million.
"Hleb was a priority for us. He is extremely versatile with great footballing skills," Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola told a news conference.
Barcelona said Hleb moved for €15 million, with a further two million payable dependent on results and that he would join up with the rest of the squad for pre-season training straight away.
Hleb becomes the Catalan side's fifth signing of the close season as they continue to rebuild the team under new coach Guardiola after two years without silverware.
They have already landed Uruguay defender Martin Caceres, former youth team defender Gerard Pique, Brazil full back Daniel Alves and Mali midfielder Seydou Keita.
After finishing third in the league last season they have a Champions League qualifying round tie to play next month.
Meanwhile, Pablo Aimar is expected to be a Newcastle United player by the weekend after the club agreed a fee, thought to be around €8.85 million, with Real Zaragoza for the 28-year-old Argentinian playmaker.
Having effectively hijacked a deal that, as recently as Tuesday, looked certain to take Aimar to Benfica, Newcastle must now hope they can finalise personal terms with the versatile attacking midfielder.
Should negotiations founder, Sunderland are poised to step in and may be prepared to make a more generous offer.
Benfica cling to faint hopes that the transfer can be revived, but Portsmouth, who spent much of the summer tracking Aimar, can no longer afford him after investing heavily in Peter Crouch.
Once described as "my legitimate successor" and "a player I would pay to watch" by Diego Maradona, Aimar's game is big on tricks, dribbling, pace and visionary passing.
His nickname in Spain is El Payaso (The Clown) but he failed to provide the entertainment anticipated by Real Zaragoza fans following his move from Valencia in 2006.
After highly successful stints with Argentina's River Plate and then Valencia, Aimar, who holds a Spanish passport, struggled last season at Real Zaragoza as they were relegated from La Liga.
However, Newcastle's recruitment team of Dennis Wise, Tony Jiminez and Jeff Vetere remain confident Kevin Keegan's managerial skills can revive his game and that Aimar will enjoy playing with Jonas Gutierrez, a Argentinian recruit from Real Mallorca.
Wise and his colleagues have had less luck in persuading Anton Ferdinand to swap the capital for Newcastle. Alan Curbishley, West Ham's manager, is believed to have been interested in a part-exchange for Damien Duff, but Ferdinand did not want to move.
It remains to be seen whether Dubliner Duff, who has struggled at St James' Park since his €6.3 million move from Chelsea, will end up in east London.
Tim Krul, one of Keegan's reserve goalkeepers, could be departing for west London after Chelsea expressed an interest in the Dutchman.
Roy Keane's first summer signing could be the Cork City midfielder David Meyler. Sunderland are believed to have submitted a bid for the 19-year-old.
