Portsmouth Football Club News

• Nickname:Pompey
• Founded:1898
• Manager:Michael Appleton

• Ground:Fratton Park
• Capacity:19,179

Real Madrid close on Diarra

17 Dec 2008 - 09:39:03

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Portsmouth's France international midfielder Lassana Diarra is set to leave Fratton Park at the end of the year to join Spanish giants Real Madrid.

The 23-year-old is poised to become the first signing made by former Tottenham Hotspur boss Juande Ramos, who took charge at the Bernabeu following the recent sacking of Bernd Schuster.

A fee of close to £20million is being reported for Diarra, who has also played in England with Arsenal and Chelsea.

Diarra has scored three goals in 31 appearances for Pompey since moving to Fratton Park in January, helping the club win the FA Cup final at Wembley in May.

He was also a member of France's squad at the European Championship finals last summer, but failed to make an appearance as Les Bleus crashed out at the group stages.

Real are keen to bring in several players to cover for a number of injuries among their squad, with their approach having seemingly ended talk of Diarra being a target for Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur.