Lyon agree to sell Diarra to Real
Mahamadou Diarra is set to complete a move to Real Madrid after Lyon finally agreed to sell the 25-year-old.
The Mali midfielder had threatened to go on strike if he was not allowed to join the Spanish giants but Lyon will now sell for a reported £17m.
\"I'm the happiest person in the world,\" Diarra told Spanish newspaper AS.
\"It was a dream for me to play for Real Madrid and at last I'm going to fulfil it,\" added the midfielder, who was also linked with Manchester United.
Lyon were originally reported to have asked for over £24m for the Mali international but Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon said they had settled for much less.
\"We carried out the negotiations with great professionalism,\" he told Marca newspaper.
\"We closed the deal for a figure that was considerably less than Lyon wanted.\"
