BARCELONA TO ANNOUNCE HLEB SIGNING

Barcelona are expected to announce the signing of Arsenal midfielder Alex Hleb today.

The Sun says Hleb will be unveiled by Barcelona today after completing his £15million switch from Arsenal.

The Catalan giants will pay the Gunners £12.5m up front for Hleb - with the remaining £2.5m based on appearances and trophies.

Bayern Munich, Inter Milan and Real Madrid were also interested in the Belarus midfield man.

But Hleb, 27, agreed a four-year contract with Barca.

The deal is worth around £65,000 a week - almost double his Arsenal salary.

The Gunners signed Hleb from Stuttgart three years ago for £10m.



Benfica winger Angel di Maria admits he has ambitions of playing in England.



Manchester United and Arsenal came close to landing the Argie before he made his move to Benfica last summer.

"For my first year in Portugal, I think that my performance has been good," Di Maria told El Capital. "I had low moments, but finished the championship to play at a good level.

"I do not feel pressure, but I know that I have not shown my true value. I will show the real Di Maria next season.

"My wish is to spend another year at Benfica and then make the leap to England or Spain."



Middlesbrough's move for Reading midfielder James Harper is in the balance.

Harper's deal with Middlesbrough could be scuppered by Arsenal's insistence on taking 40 per cent of the fee. Arsenal would be owed the cash as part of a sell-on deal they struck when letting Harper go to Reading in February 2001.



Sergio Aguero's agent has intimated that either Arsenal, Liverpool or Manchester United are preparing a bid for his client.

The Atletico Madrid striker has proved to be a sensation in the Primera Liga since swapping homeland Argentina and Independiente for the Spanish capital in 2006.

After forming a lethal strike partnership with Diego Forlan at the Vicente Calderon, the 20-year-old finished the 2007/8 campaign as the third top scorer in Spain with 19 goals and also walked away with the Antonio Puerta award for Best La Liga Player.

Aguero, known as 'Kun', is valued at around the £35million mark by Atletico but despite the hefty price-tag, almost all of Europe's major clubs are interested in his services.

Now his agent Jose Segui is quoted in the Spanish press as saying: "I've had interest from a leading English team and they've asked me to approach Atletico with a bid.

"I can't say more until I've spoken to the club about the offer.

"All I can tell you is that it's one of the best teams in Europe and it's not Chelsea."



Arsenal legend Dennis Bergkamp has words of warning for Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard about his ambitions to join Inter Milan.

Reflecting on his disastrous spell at Inter, Bergkamp said: "Once you play in the English Premier League you realise there is nothing better. It is difficult to see the beauty of the Italian League.



Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez is confident seeing off competition from Arsenal for Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry.

A source told the Sunday Mirror: "Rafa knows about Arsenal's interest in Barry, but is not overly concerned, even though there has been no movement over the past few days. He still feels he'll get him."