Cameroon striker Samuel Eto`o will be presented as a Barcelona player on Thursday.
Real Madrid, who co-owned the player with Real Mallorca, decided not to exercise their option to buy him.
"The Cameroon international Samuel Eto`o will be presented at 1900 local time (1700 GMT)as a new Barcelona player," Barcelona said on their website.
"He`s a young but experienced player who has performed exceptionally well for both Mallorca and his country," said Barcelona captain Carles Puyol.
The Spanish media said Barca would pay a fee of $29.41 million for the 23-year-old.
He`s a young but experienced player who has
performed exceptionally well
Real were reported to be keen to use Eto`o as part of a deal to sign Liverpool striker Michael Owen but Eto`o`s insistence on joining the Catalan club gave them little option but to accept the move.
Eto`o is the seventh player to join Barca since the end of last season, when they finished runners-up to Valencia in the Spanish championship.
The purchase of Eto`o brings their total spending on new recruits to over US$73 million.
Portugal playmaker Deco, Sweden striker Henrik Larsson, French midfielder Ludovic Giuly and Brazilian defenders Juliano Belletti, Silvinho and Edmilson are the other new signings.
