I've had to look at a few dictionary definitions this evening: first to check what they say for "imminent" which I always understood to mean very soon, about to happen, or before you can say Jack Robinson. Then after finding the cute photo above I found myself wondering whether "ownage" is really a word or not - surely it should be "ownership". Whatever the case the point is that I am getting pretty bored of the press stories about imminent signings.

Giovani's move to Tottenham has been "imminent" for at least three days now, and I find myself constantly checking back and forth between all the different news sources so I can get the story out as quickly as possible when it finally happens. From what I know of Giovani's agent, Pini Zahavi, he is probably asking for a pay rise before they have actu...

While there is still no mention of this from Barça, AC Milan have announced the signing of Gianluca Zambrotta for the next three seasons. Milan will pay Barça a fee of approximately €8 for the defender who has played for two seasons at Barça. Zambrotta never quite lived up to his reputation at Barça though he didn't do a bad job. In total he played 81 games for Barça and scored 3 goals.

Barça have used the option to buy José Manuel Pinto which was agreed when he arrived on loan from Celta in January. Pinto has signed a two-year contract though either side can break the contract at the end of next season. Barça have paid Celta €500,000 for the deal.

I can't help wondering if there was not a better option available somewhere. Pinto did ok when he played except for a shaky debut at Deportivo, and he has the advantage of being cheap when you consider the price being asked for Petr Cech. I said last summer that we needed better cover than Albert Jorquera in case Valdés got injured; I'm not sure whether Pinto is good enough either.

According to El Sport and El Mundo Deportivo Txiki Begiristain was in Germany yesterday to talk with Alexander Hleb about signing for Barça. Hleb is in Kaiserslauten with the Belarusian national team who are playing Germany in a friendly. According to the reports Txiki arrived at a verbal agreement with Hleb and now Barça will need to negotiate his transfer with Arsenal. Hleb was a regular in Arsenal's first team this season but has expressed a desire to leave as he has not adapted to life in London. Hleb signed for Arsenal in 2005 for a fee of around €15 million, he has one more year left on his contract so Arsenal should be willing to sell. Barça hope to sign him for under €20 million but the operation could be complicated by Inter Milan who are also interested in signing him.

One thing we can be sure of at the moment is that Barça are not going to stop with just the signings of Seydou Keita and Gerard Pique. With a big clearout expected there should be at least another four signings this summer and the press are full of the usual speculation. Of course for the fans it is exciting to read about some of the biggest names being linked to the club, but if the first two signings are anything to go by, Txiki and Pep are in no hurry to impress anyone with a superstar signing.

Barça have confirmed today that Gerard Pique is the second signing of the summer. Barça have paid a reported fee of €5 million and Pique has signed for four years with a release clause set at €50 million. Pique who is the grandson of ex-Barça director Amador Bernabeu, was born in Barcelona on 2 February 1987 and grew up in the junior ranks at Barça playing alonside the likes of Leo Messi and Cesc Fabregas. In 2004, at the age of 17, Pique signed for Manchester United but limited opportunities meant he was loaned out to Zaragoza for the 2006/7 season. He did well at Zaragoza playing 26 games and scoring 3 goals and Sir Alex Ferguson took him back to Old Trafford last season where he played 9 league games and also played three Champions League games scoring two goals. United's victory ov...

Barça officially announced the first signing of the summer at lunchtime today. There were no surprises as the man is Mali midfielder Seydou Keita who has signed for four years. Keita communicated to his ex-team Sevilla that he would effectively be buying himself out of his contract which is another way of saying Barça have coughed up the €14 million get-out clause.

Keita was born in Bamako, Mali on 16 January 1980 but he also has a French passport. He made his professional debut for Olympique Marsella in 1999. He then played for two years at Lorient before signing for Lens where he stayed between 2002 and 2007. He then moved to Sevilla where this season he played 31 league games, scoring four goals, while in the Champions League he scored three in nine games.

Only the final details remain to be sorted out before Seydou Keita signs for four years. Keita passed a medical yesterday and then sat down with his agent and Txiki Begiristain and Marc Ingla to agree on Keita's personal terms. All that is left is for Barça to arrive at an agreement with Sevilla on how to pay the €14 million transfer fee. If the deal can be included in the Dani Alves transfer then Barça will avoid paying some tax and they are also hoping to come to an agreement to pay the transfer in stages. Also very close to signing is Gerard Pique who tonight can be seen at Camp Nou as Catalunya take on Argentina. Victor Valdés will also be in the Catalunya team while Leo Messi will appear for Argentina. Kick off is at 7pm.

Jose Edmilson whose contract comes to an end on June 30th gave a press conference at lunchtime today to say an emotional goodbye after four years at the club. His first words were of thanks to "the supporters, the members and to all the people who have helped me to complete a dream." Edmilson said his future would be revealed on Monday, but Villarreal have already announced they have signed him for two years. I wish him luck in the future.

According to El Sport Lilian Thuram could receive an offer from Arsenal to continue playing for another year. Thuram, who is 36, was planning to retire at the end of this season, but a chance to join up again with Arsene Wenger may persuade the Frenchman to continue for another season. Wenger gave Thuram his first opportunity as a player when he gave him a debut for Monaco at the age of 17 way back in 1991. As Thuram has finished his contract with Barça he would not cost Arsenal anything.