Barca midfielder Hleb loaned to Stuttgart

Barcelona midfielder Alexander Hleb, unhappy at being loaned to Inter Milan as part of the Samuel Eto’o-Zlatan Ibrahimovic deal, has instead secured a one year loan to Stuttgart.

The German side will pay the 28-year-old Belarus international’s estimated four million euros in its entirety, according to Barcelona.

Hleb, who joined the European and Spanish champions from Arsenal in 2008, has not travelled with the rest of the Barcelona squad on their pre-season tour of the United States, the Catalan side said Thursday.

His switch from an intended loan to Inter means the cost for Barcelona of getting Swedish striker Ibrahimovic is now put at 68 million euros: 45m for Ibrahimovic, 20m – the price Eto’o is valued at, and three million euros in place of Hleb.