Portsmouth Agree Sale Of Lassana Diarra To Real Madrid

Real Madrid have settled on a fee to bring Pompey's French international midfielder to the Spanish capital...

Portsmouth and Real Madrid have agreed a transfer fee to take Lassana Diarra from Fratton Park to the Bernabeu, but the amount differs according to the source.

According to The Sun, Pompey are set to receive £24 million (€26.7 million), while the Daily Mail reports that Los Blancos will part with £18 million (€20 million).

Either way, the south-coast club are set to make a tidy profit on the £5.5 million (€6.1 million) paid to Arsenal to sign the midfielder last January.

It is thought that Los Merengues will officially announce the deal within the next 48 hours and that the French international, who can also fill in at right-back, will complete the switch on January 2.

A delighted Juande Ramos, the Real Madrid head coach, is quoted as saying: "The big players are already in the Champions League and cannot be signed.

"Diarra is a player I know well and I would like a player like him here."

The news comes as a blow to the transfer plans of English duo Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur, the former in particular as it is believed they were willing to offer more money to sign the 23-year-old.

Real Madrid have paraded Lassana Diarra after he passed a medical and prepared to seal a £20m switch from Portsmouth.

The 23-year-old France midfielder has agreed to sign a four-and-a-half-year deal at the Bernabeu.

Diarra will officially become a Real player when the transfer window reopens on 1 January.

He said: "I feel capable. I have the abilities and I think Real Madrid is what I needed. I need to adapt to the Spanish game and do it quickly."

Diarra added: "I've played with big clubs, got good experience with the French national team and I still want to improve."

He has been compared to former France international Claude Makelele, who also played for Real Madrid.

But Diarra stated: "It's true there are similarities but Makelele is Makelele and I am me.

"Makelele has his own personal style and I have my own. I'm going to Madrid to be Lassana Diarra and to show what I can do."

Real moved to sign Diarra after his namesake Mahamadou Diarra was ruled out for the season.

The new signing will wear the name 'Lass' on the back of his shirt.

Diarra started his career with Le Havre before signing for Chelsea in 2005.

He moved to the Gunners on the final day of the August 2007 transfer window but left for Pompey five months later.

"We have always said that we would only allow our players to leave if we received an exceptional bid," a Pompey spokesman told the club's website earlier in the week.

"We could not stand in the way of a move such as this for Lassana.

"It shows how far the club has come under the ownership of Alexandre Gayadamak when Real Madrid come in for one of our players."

Pompey boss Tony Adams claims he will have all of the money from Diarra's sale to sign new players.

"It's a substantial offer. Every penny is mine, and I had money before that, so I am delighted," confirmed Adams last week.

"Every decision at this club will be through me and when Real Madrid offers a lot of money for one of your players I have a decision to make.

"The lad wants to play for Real Madrid and it's a magnificent offer that will get me some recruitments for Portsmouth."

Diarra came on as a substitute in Saturday's 2-1 defeat at Bolton to make his first appearance since 15 November following an ankle injury.

Real are now coached by former Tottenham boss Juande Ramos and want a defensive midfielder because Mali international Mahamadou Diarra is sidelined for the season after undergoing knee surgery.