Mammadou Diarra to move to Real

By agencies
PARIS, France-Lyon midfielder Mahamadou Diarra is delighted the French champions will allow him to move to Real Madrid.
The Mali international is set for a switch to the Spanish giants after both clubs agreed on a fee for the former Vitesse Arnhem player - with the fee thought to be around €26 million (£17.7 million).
Diarra is now expected to concur on personal terms with the Santiago Bernabeu club, as Real aim to pose a real challenge to archrivals Barcelona.
The 25-year-old, who had also been the subject of interest from Manchester United this summer, is excited at the chance to join Fabio Capello’s new-look side.
“I’m the happiest person in the world,” Diarra told Spanish sports daily AS.
“It was a dream for me to play for Real Madrid and at last, I’m going to fulfill it.”
Lyon star Juninho Pernambucano is already resigned to seeing his fellow midfielder move on.
“At the moment, it is better for us to get prepared for Diarra’s departure,” Juninho said.
“He is a talented player, and he will be difficult to replace. But it is different than being irreplaceable.
“A lot of people used that word last season after the Essien departure (to Chelsea).
“But last term, the group proved we had solutions if we kept our desire and solidarity.”
Real president Ramon Calderon was pleased that Lyon lowered their price for Diarra.
“We carried out the negotiations with great professionalism,” Calderon told Spanish sports daily Marca.
“We closed the deal for a figure that was considerably less than Lyon wanted.”
The nine-times European Cup winners have already snapped up Italy’s World Cup winning captain Fabio Cannavaro and Brazil midfielder Emerson from Juventus, while Ruud van Nistelrooy arrived from Manchester United.
While Real have been constantly linked with Arsenal striker Jose Antonio Reyes, Calderon believes more new faces will arrive before the August 31 transfer deadline.
“We can still sign more players and I think we will do so before the transfer deadline expires,” added Calderon.