Bayern Munich joins loan race for Hleb

German news site Spox claims that Barcelona attacker and Belarusian international Alexander Hleb (28) underwent today medical tests at German club Stuttgart.

The one-year loan deal would be signed and officially announced tomorrow (read more here).

Asked about the situation of Hleb, Oliver Mintzlaff, a representative of the player's agency, told the site that Hleb has rejected to join Inter Milan but that he won't stay with Barcelona next season: "Alexander Hleb has yesterday decided, together with his agents Uli Ferber and Niki Spilevski, that he won't play at Inter Milan during the 2009-2010 season. Before the end of the week a decision will be made on where Alex will play, but he will definitely not play at Barcelona next season."

Baden-Württemberg regional newspaper Stuttgarter Nachrichten claims that Barcelona and Stuttgart have already reached an agreement on the loan and that only the signatures would still be missing. Hleb, who would accept a pay cut from 7,5 to 4 million euro, could start training with his former club in the coming days.

Mintzlaff nevertheless told German newsagency Dpa that other clubs are interested too: "Based upon the information I have now, it looks like he will play in the Bundesliga next season. There are nevertheless several interested clubs." German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung claims that Bayern Munich is also interested.

The player's agent Uli Ferber is quoted by the paper as saying that there are indeed two Bundesliga options: "I am surprised that in the case of Alex Hleb there are already reports confirming his arrival at Stuttgart. That is at this moment definitely not the case. A decision will be made within the next 48 hours.

We have rejected the Inter Milan offer on Tuesday and now there are two options in the Bundesliga. Is Bayern Munich the second candidate? You shouldn't exclude anything in football, so I won't do that is this case either. As things stand now, it will be a pure loan option with no option to buy."

Read more:
Hleb has deal with Stuttgart
What is happening with Hleb?
Bayern preparing a bid for Hleb

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