he Belorussian has been waiting for the two clubs to agree a
deal after he agreed personal terms and he will now fly to the
Catalan capital to undergo a medical and sign for the
Blaugrana.
Joan Laporta scraped through a vote of no confidence at the weekend
and that has allowed his board to continue with business as usual
and Hleb represents the first piece of business to be done since
that fans' vote.
Arsenal recognised that they were not going to be able to hold on
to the former VfB Stuttgart playmaker and it was just a matter of
time before he left the club this summer.
The 27-year-old is Barça's fifth new signing of the summer and
their second midfield acquisition after the arrival of Seydou Keita
from Sevilla last month.
Hleb will be the first Belorussian to play for the Catalan giants
and will make his debut for the club on their trip to Scotland
against Hibernian on July 24.
With Ronaldinho set to leave Camp Nou, Barcelona were intent on
bolstering the left side of their squad and the latest signing now
rules out any chance Andrei Arshavin could have of joining the club
this year.
After just one season, Helb will team up again with former Arsenal
team-mate Thierry Henry and it remains to be seen if they can
strike up a better understanding than they did for the Gunners.