Aliaksandr Hleb Completes Loan Move to Stuttgart

Barcelona midfielder Aliaksandr Hleb is set to join German side Stuttgart on loan. The ex-Stuttgart man had a very disappointing first year at Barcelona, after joining from Arsenal for £14.5 million, he failed to break into the starting eleven, making only 19 appearances and never scoring.

Hleb snubbed a loan move to Inter Milan as part of the Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Samuel Eto’o swap. “I have opted for VfB [Stuttgart] because the team has great potential and I am convinced that we can achieve a lot together,” said Hleb.

With Stuttgart Hleb will play Champions League football as they finished in third place in the Bundesliga, behind Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg.

Many in the Stuttgart camp are looking forward to Hleb’s skill on the ball and dribbling prowess in their upcoming Bundesliga campaign. Stuttgart boss Horst Heldt said, “We have signed a world class player with Alexander Hleb. He will increase the quality of our squad even further.”

Stuttgart were keen to have Hleb rejoin their team as their attempts to secure Real Madrid’s Klass Jan Huntelaar and CSKA Moscow’s Vanger Love fell through.