Home Sports Real Madrid sign Lassana Diarra from Portsmouth

Real Madrid sign Lassana Diarra from Portsmouth

By DPA,

Madrid : Spanish champions Real Madrid signed Lassana Diarra from Premier League side Portsmouth.

The brief announcement on the club’s official website Sunday states that Diarra has agreed to a contract with Real until June 2013. It did not say how much Real will pay Portsmouth for the 23-year-old Frenchman.

The online version of the Marca newspaper claims that Real have paid around 20 million euros ($27.83 million) for Diarra, who can play at right-back or in midfield.

Diarra is Real’s third winter signing, after striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar from Ajax and midfielder Daniel Parejo, who has been brought back from a loan spell at Queens Park Rangers.

New Real coach Juande Ramos is keen to strengthen his squad in the midst of a serious injury crisis. On Saturday his team moved up from sixth to fifth in La Liga with a tight 1-0 defeat of Valencia.