Barça and Celta have reached an agreement which will see 32-year-old goalkeeper Jose Manuel Pinto move to Barcelona on a loan deal until the end of the season. Barça will pay Celta €500,000 for the services of Pinto and have also secured an option to keep him until 2010 if they confirm this before May 31 this year.

Pinto was born in Cadiz on the 8th November 1975, he started his career at Betis and moved to Celta in 1998. In the 2005/6 season he won the Trofeo Zamora which is awarded to the goalkeeper who concedes fewest goals in La Liga. He has played 165 league games for Celta. 

Pinto will arrive in Barcelona and take his medical tomorrow, and if all goes well he will be officially presented on Friday. Pinto will take the place of the injured Albert Jorquera as Victor Valdés’s substitute.