Hleb is a two-footed creative midfielder player |
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is confident Belarus midfielder Alexander Hleb will be at Highbury next season.
"The transfer will be completed in the next few days. I think he can start packing his bags to come to us," Wenger told the Stuttgarter Nachrichten paper.
Wenger has reportedly already held an initial meeting with the 24-year-old after being granted permission from VfB Stuttgart to open transfer talks.
Stuttgart have agreed to sell after Arsenal increased their offer to £6m.
Wenger is a long-time admirer of the talented, two-footed midfielder and has wasted no time in negotiating a quick deal while in Germany commentating on the Confederations Cup for French television.
And he stepped up his interest as soon as new Stuttgart coach Giovanni Trapattoni made it clear Hleb could leave.
"It is fundamentally not a good idea to force a player to stay when they want to leave," Trappattoni told Bild magazine. "The team is far more important than one individual."
Hleb has scored 13 goals in 137 Bundesliga appearances for Stuttgart, and has won 10 senior caps for Belarus.
He has three years left on his deal with the Bundesliga club and recently his agent insisted Chelsea were also keen to bring him to the Premiership.
"Chelsea are also genuinely interested, however Arsenal have priority as Arsene Wenger has been dreaming of having Alexander in his team for two years now," said his representative Nikolai Spilevski.
