Madrid to sign duo Heinze and Robben

Real Madrid will present Gabriel Heinze and Arjen Robben to the fans and media at 4pm today.

The Spanish champions have not revealed whether the duo have passed their medicals or signed contracts yet but appear confident of the transfers being completed by 5pm local time.

Real's long chase for Arjen Robben finally looks to have reached a successful conclusion after the Primera Liga champions agreed a deal with Chelsea for the transfer of the Dutch international winger to the Bernabeu on a five-year contract.

Full-back Gabriel Heinze is also heading to Spain with an agreement in place to bring the Argentina international to Madrid from Manchester United on a four-year deal.

Both transfers are subject to successful medicals but, providing there are no complications, the duo could well form a new-look left-hand side at Real next season.

Heinze, 29, is set to step into the full-back berth vacated by long-serving Brazilian Roberto Carlos, who departed for Turkey this summer, while winger Robben has long been a target of Real's to boost their options down the flanks.

Real president Ramon Calderon promised to bring Robben to the Bernabeu as part of his successful election campaign in 2006, but no deal was forthcoming until Chelsea announced on Wednesday they had agreed to let the player leave Stamford Bridge for Spain.

A statement on the Chelsea website confirmed: 'Chelsea Football Club and Real Madrid have reached an agreement for the transfer of Arjen Robben subject to the player agreeing personal terms and passing a medical.'

While Robben and Heinze both look poised to became Real's latest summer signings - following in the footsteps of Christoph Metzelder, Pepe, Javier Saviola, Jerzy Dudek, Royston Drenthe and Wesley Sneijder - one player who is set to leave the club is full-back Cicinho.

On the same day that the deals for Robben and Heinze were announced, Real revealed the 27-year-old Brazilian is heading to Italian side Roma.

A statement on the club's official website read: 'Real Madrid announce that they have reached an agreement for the transfer of Cicero Joao de Cezare `Cicinho' to AS Roma.

'The club wish to thank the player for his services and wish him the best of luck for the future.'

Real's trio of transfer deals came just three days before they launch the defence of their Primera Liga title with a mouth-watering home clash against local rivals Atletico Madrid on Saturday.

The build-up to that game has been far from smooth however, with the team having lost six of their 10 pre-season matches under new coach Bernd Schuster.

The latest of those losses came at the Bernabeu last weekend when Real were beaten 5-3 by Sevilla en route to a 6-3 aggregate defeat in the Spanish Super Cup.

That saw the first piece of silverware of the season slip through their grasp, but the moves for Robben and Heinze - a double swoop which could cost Real almost 50million euros (£34million) in total according to the Spanish media - shows the champions are not going to take it lying down.

Source: Soccernet.com

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Eriksson set to buy to replace injured Bojinov

Table-topping Manchester City boss Sven-Goran Eriksson is determined to bring in a replacement for injured striker Valeri Bojinov.

The Bulgarian will be out for at least five months and probably longer after suffering cruciate knee ligament damage in Sunday's win over Manchester United.

Bojinov had only been on the field for six minutes before he sustained the injury in a collision with United defender Patrice Evra and now the 21-year-old is facing a major battle to play any part in the remainder of the campaign.

While Eriksson has nothing but sympathy for Bojinov - the youngest foreign player to appear in Serie A when he turned out for Lecce aged just 16 - the Swede recognises he is now short on firepower.

Aside from £8million new-boy Rolando Bianchi, Eriksson has only last season's mis-firing quartet of Georgios Samaras, Bernardo Corradi, Darius Vassell and Paul Dickov to call on ahead of Saturday's trip to Arsenal.

And, as he is also lacking midfield options, Eriksson is keen to do some more shopping ahead of the August 31 transfer deadline.

'Work is going on in the office,' he told the club website.

'We didn't want to have to do it but we have to look carefully at the situation because when you have a player who needs this kind of operation and rehabilitation, you can never be sure how long it takes to come back.

'To lose one player for such a long time is a big blow.

'But it is not only a striker, we need one or two midfielders as well to be covered properly.'

Bojinov's injury has seen Eriksson switch his thoughts away from reinforcing his goalkeeping pool even though a move for Livorno's Marco Amelia has long been touted.

Instead, it appears increasingly likely the former England coach will stick with Kasper Schmeichel, who has started his senior career with three consecutive clean sheets, and England Under-21 international Joe Hart, knowing he will have more experienced back-up in Andreas Isaksson once his fellow countryman recovers from a broken thumb.

'I would say the goalkeeping situation is on ice at the moment,' he said.

Source: Soccernet.com

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Real Madrid agree deal for United's Heinze

The messy Gabriel Heinze saga has finally reached its conclusion after the Manchester United defender agreed a four-year contract with Real Madrid.

Heinze was still considering whether to launch an appeal against the Premier League decision to block his preferred to Liverpool when Real made their move.

United, aware the 29-year-old's Old Trafford future was non-existent, were quick to agree a fee with the Spanish champions, believed to be well in excess of £5million, forcing the issue back into Heinze's court.

Although the Argentina World Cup star still wanted to explore the Liverpool option, he knew that by dragging the situation out even further, his chances of moving out of England before the August 31 transfer deadline would effectively disappear.

Having already had one lot of talks with Real earlier in the summer, Heinze has now opted to join the Spanish champions instead - a move which will no doubt disappoint Rafael Benitez, who expressed his disgust for the verdict reached by the Premier League 24 hours earlier.

In contrast, United will be glad to get rid of a player who became a firm fans' favourite in the immediate aftermath of his move from Paris St Germain in 2004 but became a pariah amongst supporters for so actively pursuing a move to their fierce north-west rivals.

Heinze must still pass a medical but providing there are no problems, he will join Bernd Schuster's squad within the next 48 hours as a replacement for long-serving Brazilian Roberto Carlos, who left the Bernabeu for Turkey this summer.

The move concludes a story which dogged United throughout their Far East tour and left Sir Alex Ferguson bemused about the player's intentions.

Those were made perfectly clear earlier this week when Heinze attending the Premier League hearing himself to claim a letter, signed by Red Devils chief executive David Gill, confirming a fee at which United would be willing to do business, constituted a promise to sell.

The panel disagreed, having also heard the startling revelation of Crystal Palace chief executive Phil Alexander who told the three-man inquiry team he was approached by one of Heinze's representatives with a proposal for the player to join the Eagles before then being moved on to Liverpool.

Such a move may have attracted the attention of FIFA, whose rules forbid a player joining three clubs in one season, but ultimately never came to fruition.

However, it does emphasise the scale of Heinze's desire to become the first player to move from United to Liverpool since Phil Chisnall in 1964.

The whole episode has left a nasty taste in the mouth of Benitez, who must now look elsewhere for a left-back following Heinze's decision to accept Real's offer.

'I would like to ask the Premier League a number of questions. How can a player with a signed agreement be treated like this?' Benitez told the Liverpool Echo.

'He has a document which is clear, but the Premier League prefers to believe the word of someone else who made a mistake. I know there were accusations made against Liverpool in the hearing which were unbelievable. How can this be allowed?'

And broadening his attack from the Heinze issue, Benitez said: 'Then I would like to ask the Premier League why is it that Liverpool always plays the most fixtures away from home in an early kick-off, following an international break?

'We had more than the top clubs last season and we have four already to prepare for this season.

He then - somewhat bizarrely given the story dominated the news agenda for most of the close-season - claims it was 'so easy' for United to sign Tevez.

Benitez added: 'Then I want to ask the Premier League why it was so difficult for Liverpool to sign Javier Mascherano, when we had to wait a long time for the paperwork, but it was so easy for Carlos Tevez to join Manchester United?

'It's going to be very difficult for us to win the Premier League because the other teams are so strong, but I want our supporters to know that despite the disadvantages we have, we will fight all the way.

'We will fight to cope with our more difficult kick-off times and all the other decisions which are going against us.'

Source: Soccernet.com

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Robben set for Real Madrid switch

helsea have agreed to sell Dutch winger Arjen Robben to Spanish champions Real Madrid, the London club said on Wednesday.

Real confirmed the agreement and said the 23-year-old would sign a five-year deal with the club after undergoing a medical.

Spanish media reported that the nine-times European champions would pay around €36 million for the player.

Robben had been stalling over signing a contract extension at Chelsea, even though his existing deal has two years to run.

The news of Robben's signing came just a few hours after Real announced they had agreed to buy Argentine defender Gabriel Heinze from Manchester United for a reported €12 million.

He becomes Real's eighth signing of the close season following defenders Heinze, Christoph Metzelder, Pepe, Dutch duo Wesley Sneijder and Royston Drenthe, Argentine striker Javier Saviola and former Liverpool goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek.

With Ruud van Nistelrooy having signed for Real last season, Robben's signing brings the club's Dutch contingent to four.

Real's total expenditure since Fabio Capello was sacked following their victory in the Spanish championship is in the region of €120 million.

The winger has been a long-time target of Real's and together with Cesc Fabregas and Kaka was one of the players Ramon Calderon promised to sign when he became president last July.

The pacy, left-footed winger joined the Londoners from PSV Eindhoven for £11million in 2004, and quickly established himself as a force to be reckoned with, helping them win back-to-back league titles in 2005 and 2006.

He weighed in with 15 league goals in three seasons but was dogged by inconsistency and injury and made just 51 Premiership appearances. He underwent knee surgery at the end of March and has not played since.

Robben's future was thrown into futher doubt when Chelsea moved to sign France midfielder Florent Malouda from Olympique Lyon last month, though they denied he was a replacement.

The winger will compete with Brazilian Robinho and Drenthe for a place on the left of midfield though his versatility allows him to operate on both flanks and he is perhaps more likely to act as a replacement for David Beckham down the right.

• Meanwhile, Real Madrid have agreed to sell Brazil right back Cicinho to AS Roma, the Spanish champions said on Wednesday.

Roma confirmed the deal and said the player would arrive at the Italian club on Thursday.

The 27-year-old defender joined Real from then world club champions Sao Paulo in December 2005 for an estimated fee of €5million.

He played regularly in the second half of that campaign before tearing the cruciate ligament in his right knee in September 2006 and playing only seven games last season.

Cicinho follows in the footsteps of fellow countryman Emerson who also left Real this week for Italy, the midfielder joining AC Milan for around €5millionmillion.

The deal to sell Cicinho ended a frenetic night at Real who also announced the signings of Argentina left back Gabriel Heinze from Manchester United and Dutch winger Arjen Robben from Chelsea for an estimated total outlay of €48million.

Source: soccernet.com

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