Barcelona have reached an agreement in principle with Inter Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimovic for the striker to sign for the European champions, sporting director Txiki Begiristain said on Friday.

EmpicsZlatan Ibrahimovic: Serie A's top scorer could be on his way out of Internazionale.

"There are agreements in principle with the player and with Inter and the documents are being drawn up," Begiristain told Barca TV.

He added that only a few details remained to be worked out and Ibrahimovic could be presented as a Barcelona player as early as Monday.

On such 'detail' appears to be the loan move of Alexander Hleb, who has threatened to scupper the deal by insisting he does not want to leave Barcelona.

The Belarus international was included as a makeweight by Barcelona - on a season-long loan - in their bid to land Ibrahimovic, as Barca offered 45m euros and striker Samuel Eto'o for the Swede.

But the former Arsenal midfielder is determined to remain at Barca and prove he is worthy of a starting place at the Nou Camp.

''I have a contract with Barcelona and am currently preparing for the new season with the team,'' he told Germany's Sport Bild magazine. ''My aim is to make the breakthrough here and be successful with this club.''

Hleb's agent has even denied being contacted about a switch to Inter.

''Nobody has spoken to me or Alex about a possible transfer to Inter Milan,'' said Uli Ferber. ''We are all a bit surprised about the recent press reports, which we cannot confirm.''