José Edmílson will leave Barcelona and join Villarreal on a free transfer after his contract at Barça comes to an end at the end of this month.

Speaking at his last press conference at the club, the Brazilian, who joined Barcelona in the summer of 2005 from French powerhouses Olympique Lyon, said "I want to thank the fans, the club and to everyone that helped me complete a dream, I will miss the supporters and the people with whom I have worked on a daily basis for so long.

"I am sad to be leaving the club, but I go away happy for the four years I have had here.

"I hope that whenever I return that I will be remembered as the person I am and not for some of the statements that I made. I want to be able to come back wit my head held high and be recognised for the four years I spent here.

"During my time here I have always tried to do my best to make the fans happy, I played well, above all in defence, and then after the injuries affected me."

Transfers in

Gerard Piqué, once of Barcelona's youth sides before he left the club in 2004 to join Manchester United, looks set to return to the club.

Speaking ahead of the Catalunya's friendly match with Argentina at the Camp Nou, he said that talks with the club were at an "advanced stage".

"Nothing is official yet. From here on, we have to wait and see what happens," said Piqué.

"Right now the decision is in other people’s hands ... while nothing is official I am not imagining myself wearing any other shirt, because anything could happen yet."

Another player looking set to join Barça is Sevilla's Malian midfielder Seydou Keita.

The club are expected to pay his €14 million release clause in order to secure his services after Sevilla failed to come to an agreement with the club for a lower transfer fee during negotiations.

And the club are expected to be in negotiations with Sevilla for their right fullback Daniel Alves.

Alves has spent last week speaking to the press about his desire to join the club and posed for a few photos with a Barcelona shirt.