Stuttgart carefully considering Hleb option

Asked about the rumours saying that Stuttgart officials travelled to Barelona on Monday to talk about a transfer of Barcelona attacker and Belarusian international Alewender Hleb (28) (read more here), Stuttgart sports director Horst Heldt confirmed the trip in an interview with Baden-Württemberg regional newspaper Stuttgarter Nachrichten but said it had nothing to do with Hleb:

"We did not have an appointment with FC Barcelona about Hleb. I can understand where the story is coming from but it's not true.

The thing is: Uli Ferber (Hleb's agent) needed to go to Barcelona urgently and we had important issues to discuss with him. Because otherwise we had to postpone our meeting, we decided to accompany him to Barcelona in order to be able to talk about some things in a calm way. So we did not meet with Alexander Hleb, I have not seen him, and we didn't have an invitation of FC Barcelona to talk about Hleb. I don't want to disappoint our fans but I don't want to give them false hope either."

Asked about the rumours, Stuttgart manager Markus Babbel nevertheless confirmed the interest in an interview with German tabloid Bild: "With this trip, we wanted to give Alex the feeling that we would want him very, very much to join us. But we're not the only club that is interested in him. It will be very difficult. Alex plays with the best club in the world."

Baden-Württemberg regional newspaper Stuttgarter Zeitung claims that Stuttgart will only be able to sign Hleb if they qualify for next season's Champions league or if they sell striker Mario Gómez. Barcelona would ask a transfer fee of around 12 million euro° and Hleb wants a salary of 3,5 million euro and wouldn’t be very tempted to move if Stuttgart only plays in the Uefa cup. Hleb would nevertheless still have many friends in Stuttgart, where he felt more comfortable than in London and Barcelona, and has always kept in touch with the club since he left for Arsenal in the summer of 2008.

Asked about a return to Stuttgart, Hleb meanwhile unconfirmedly said in an interview with german sports weekly paper Kicker that he doesn't plan to leave Barcelona at the end of the season: "Me back to Stuttgart? That is crazy. Barça is a world topclub and I'm not giving up. I want to learn the language and do everything that is needed to break through."

Read more:
Hleb still believes in Barcelona future
Bayern Munich and Stuttgart want Hleb
Barcelona following Stuttgart striker Gomez