La Liga champion Barcelona has reportedly agreed to pay Inter Milan $56 million for striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic in a deal that will also send striker Samuel Eto'o and midfielder Aleksandr Hleb to the Serie A champion. According to reports in the Spanish media on Friday the deal was agreed during a dinner meeting between Barcelona president Joan Laporta and Inter president Massimo Moratti in Milan on Thursday night.
The meeting was originally intended to solidify Hleb's loan and the transfer of left back Cabelino Andrade Maxwell. "We obviously talked about other things because for them it was interesting to know something about Ibrahimovic," Moratti said. "We also spoke about Eto'o to understand if it's possible to do a deal with these two players. If an operation of this kind was carried out, it would regard both players."
Swedish striker Ibrahimovic is Barcelona's first marquee signing since the club became the first Spanish club to win the treble last season. The 27-year-old Ibrahimovic, who led Serie A with 25 goals last season, guided Inter to three straight Serie A league titles since a $17 million move from Juventus in 2006. The former Ajax player has scored 21 goals in 58 appearances for Sweden. Belarus midfielder Hleb will head to the San Siro on loan for the upcoming campaign. Hleb played a minor role in Barcelona's success last season, often coming on as a substitute to make 34 appearances in his first season after a transfer from Arsenal.