Monday, 14 July 2008

Hleb to be presented soon

British tabloid The Sun claims that Arsenal midfielder and Belarus international Alexander Hleb (27) will today be presented as new player of Barcelona.

Hleb agreed a four-year contract with Barcelona worth 4 million euro a year. Barcelona will pay Arsenal a transfer fee of 15 million euro° with a possible extra 3 million euro based on appearances and trophies.

British tabloid News of the World claimed yesterday that Hleb, who will start training with Barcelona this week, has said goodbye to his Arsenal team-mates a few days ago.

A Barcelona source is quoted as saying: "Alexander was upset at leaving Arsenal. He shook hands with everyone but Cesc and some of the other boys weren’t there so he could say cheerio in person."

Read more:
Principal agreement on Hleb
Better contract for Messi
Hleb wants to join Barcelona

14 comments:

pep said...

15 million euro =

23 million us dollar
12 million british pound

Anonymous said...

According to media, Hleb would've been presented 3 times by now..

Anonymous said...

Presented today? Not likely.

I wonder if this signing actually will go through at all.

Anonymous said...

"I wonder if this signing actually will go through at all."

Frankly, I hope not. 15M is quite fair price, but I don't think he'll match perfectly in Barca squad. Barca should keep that money and by selling one of not wished player should step further to land a better player like Arshavin or Vd Vaart. I think Barca should sign 2 or 3 players more.
A)midfielder-Arshavin,Vd Vaart
B)winger-Silva or Neves
C)striker-Pavlyuchenko (to be honest it would be necessary 'cause Henry is not player we all remember from Arsenal glory days. I hope Eto'o will stay, and just imagine to add Pavlyuchenko to him-it would be explosion! And Bojan is yet to come.

cojonudo said...

The actual story is that Willem Defoe was arrested shortly after touchdown at El Prat trying to pass himself off as Hleb. Authorities were caught unaware of the clever ruse until a tip came in from an unidentified source at the Daily Bugle.

Anonymous said...

Hleb is going to rock the house in Camp Nou. He'll play attacking mid, is quick, retains possession and is an excellent passer. The price is also right.

Arshavin isn't ready for prime time, I think. Not at the price Zenit wants.

Striker should be our biggest priority. The Pavlyuchenko thing comes and goes. He's worth the risk if the price is right, as in less than 15 million (in this crazy market today). Not even sure who's left out there. Adebayor and Huntelaar are still out and about, though Adebayor is by all accounts signed sealed and delivered to Milan.

If Eto'o stays, we have to sign him to a one-year extension to keep him from needing to be sold at a cut rate next year to avoid the free transfer the following season.

Anonymous said...

I hope it doesn't either. Hleb is not good enough for Barca, just wait and see. The hierarchy will regret it.

cojonudo said...

Well I remain unconvinced about Huntelaar. Huge promise, tall striker, but doesn't have a commanding presence nor pose as a physical threat to defenses. I more like to think that that first sight of contact he'll fold like a cardboard box. With all that said if I could get him for around the same price as "Pavy" I'd pull the trigger in a heartbeat. Huntelaar might be "soft" but I personally feel he is head and shoulders more talented than "Pavy". It's like the choice of picking the lesser of two evils, as neither player provides the "ideal" fit that Pep's looking for. And both have that "boom or bust" tag around their necks. But if left with no other options, and having to pick between the two, I'd take Huntelaar and cross my fingers.

If I were Barcelona I would move onto Drogba if Adebayor is indeed out of the picture. Next to Adebayor Drogba's the only other suitable candidate that meets the requesite "skills" and profile that Pep's after. I've always felt that Eto'o would wind up at Chelsea as well if he were to be dealt to a Premiership side. I never once envisioned him as a real possibility for Arsenal. To that end a Drogba + cash (or a player) for Eto'o seems like a logical move. And I don't think that Drogba (despite his age) is that much of a drop off from Adebayor, if anything he may provide to be a more skilled and experienced player. And his fiery and combative attitude, while a nuisance to some, would provide Barcelona with that extra bit of a "nasty" edge, on a team surrounded by a bunch of "nice guys". He's exactly the type of player that you "hate" if he's playing for the opposition, but you "love" if he is on your side. He would cut an intimidating presence on the pitch and when it comes Champions League play, and facing one of the Premiership sides you can be sure Drogba's not going to go quietly into the night without a putting up a fight, (figuratively and perhaps literally as well). I'm not saying he's as talented as Eto'o, but facing Premiership sides, you can be sure that Drogba's going to have a much greater impact on the game than Eto'o ever would.

Anonymous said...

i think they have to sell ronaldinho with that money they have the buy a left winger thats all and for god sakes i think eto'o is much better then henry right now and why dont they sell henry because last term he also played as center forward he sucked like that bye the way hleb is an outstanding player he is like iniesta the difference between hleb and iniesta is hleb is faster and iniesta has more creativity

Anonymous said...

"And his fiery and combative attitude, while a nuisance to some, would provide Barcelona with that extra bit of a "nasty" edge, on a team surrounded by a bunch of "nice guys". " --

That's the funniest football line I have heard in a long time. A classic.

Anonymous said...

Hleb doesn't have the quality to play creative/attacking midfielder. He cannot carry a team on his shoulder, something we will need for next season. If anything, he'll be used as a left winger. To fill the spot of attacking mid, we will need either Hernanes or the more ideal choice Neves. And for center forward we should try to sign Huntelaar and get rid of Henry, but keep Eto'o. Come to think about it, that would be the best choice for Barcelona.

Anonymous said...

Sometimes I wonder when I see people saying we should get Hernanes, or Neves or anyone else from the brazilian league.
Have you guys actually seen these guys play more than 1 or 2 times, or in a different way than the youtube compilations ?

Anonymous said...

Hleb is truly just what Barca needs right now. Dribbles, holds possesion, but never does anything else. NO end product at all. If they sign him, and he's a regular, Barca will have the same problem as last year. Neves is a much better option.

Anonymous said...

Why didn't he shake Cesc's hand? The text is a bit ambiguous: is it because Cesc wasn't there or is there some beef between the two?

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