Manchester United has agreed to sell striker Ruud van Nistelrooy to Real Madrid for 5 million euros (US$18.9 million), Spanish radio station Cadena SER said yesterday.
Van Nistelrooy will reportedly sign a three-year contract and be presented at Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu Stadium today following a routine medical.
The transfer was concluded at midnight on Wednesday after negotiations throughout the day between Madrid sports director Predrag Mijatovic and United's chief executive David Gill, the station said.
The 30-year-old Dutchman was set to arrive in the Spanish capital late yesterday and stay at the same hotel as Madrid's other recent signings -- former Juventus players Fabio Cannavaro and Emerson.
Van Nistelrooy, who will reportedly be paid an annual salary of 5 million euro (US$7.3 million), would team up again with David Beckham, with whom he played at United from 2001-2003.
On Wednesday, United manager Alex Ferguson said Madrid's offer remained well below United's asking price of ?15 million (US$27.9 million).
"Nothing has really materially changed," Ferguson told United's TV station. "They've slightly increased it but nothing really you would say -- for goodness sake, an increase of about two bob or something."
Ferguson said van Nistelrooy's sale should be at "the proper value" and compared the possible transfer with that of Andriy Shevchenko, who joined Chelsea at the end of May.
"He is one of the best strikers in the country, one of the best strikers in Europe so when you think about Shevchenko going for US$65 million -- he's a similar age group. But we know our value of the player so at the moment he is a Manchester United player."
Madrid has been vying with Bayern Munich to sign van Nistelrooy, who asked to leave United after falling out with Ferguson at the end of last season.
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