Midfielder Diarra moves to Real Madrid

May 19th, 2009 LONDON - Spanish football giants Real Madrid are prepared to offer Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo 200,000-pounds-a-week to move to the Bernabeu from Manchester United. Real Madrid president Florentino Perez will make the signing of Ronaldo his priority if, as expected, he is re-elected on June 14, The Mirror reports.

May 17th, 2009 MADRID - Barcelona are Spanish league champions for the 19th time after second-place Real Madrid suffered a late 3-2 defeat Saturday at sixth-placed Villarreal. Their third straight defeat leaves Real eight points behind Barca - who play Sunday at Mallorca - with just two games left.

April 3rd, 2009 MADRID - Real Madrid will be without Marcelo, and possibly Arjen Robben as well, in their Spanish league match away to Malaga, Saturday. The left-back Marcelo will be out of action for around 12 days, after pulling the abductor muscle in his right leg whilst warming up Wednesday before Brazil World Cup qualifying against Peru.

March 18th, 2009 LONDON - David Bekham may don the Real Madrid shirt this summer if Florentino Perez becomes the club's president again. "Florentino will try to bring Becks back if he decides to run for presidency.

March 13th, 2009 MADRID - The French daily Le Monde will have to compensate Real Madrid with $421,000 over allegations of doping, the Spanish club informed. A Madrid court said a piece by journalist Stephane Mandard in which the defending champion of La Liga was linked to the doping scandal around Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes was not suitably based on evidence.

March 11th, 2009 MADRID - Real Madrid fans are not confident about their team winning at Liverpool in a Champions League round of 16 clash, according to an online poll taken by Madrid sports daily AS. Only 35 per cent of readers voted 'Yes', with 65 per cent opting for 'No' to the question 'Do you think that Real Madrid can turn the tie around in Anfield?'.

March 6th, 2009 MADRID - Florentino Perez does not speak, but he lets others do it for him - so much so that one gets the impression that his 'entourage' is carrying out his campaign for the Real Madrid presidency, even if he has not even said he is a candidate. Ramon Calderon resigned as club president January 16, and since then a new electoral process is open at Real Madrid.

March 3rd, 2009 MADRID - The supporters of Spanish giants Real Madrid are very confident about the chances of their team winning a third straight Liga title. This is the conclusion to be drawn from online opinion polls taken Monday by Madrid sports dailies Marca and AS.

February 16th, 2009 MADRID - Royston Drenthe has asked not to be picked to play because he is suffering from anxiety, according to Real Madrid coach Juande Ramos. Ramos told radio station Cadena SER early Monday morning that Drenthe has asked not to be picked for Real's last three matches, against Numancia, Racing Santander and Sporting Gijon.

February 7th, 2009 MADRID - Real Madrid battled to their seventh straight Liga win Saturday, 1-0 at home to willing but harmless Racing Santander. It was the fourth 1-0 home win since Juande Ramos took over two months ago, and imposed an unattractive but effective counter-attacking style.

February 2nd, 2009 LONDON - Wigan Athletic completed the signing of midfielder Charles N'Zogbia from Newcastle United. The turbulent 22-year-old moves in a part swap with Wigan midfielder Ryan Taylor, for an undisclosed fee believed to be a Wigan record.

February 2nd, 2009 LONDON - Fulham completed the signing of French midfielder Olivier Dacourt on loan from Inter Milan. The 34-year-old, who has played for both Everton and Leeds United, has fallen out of favour since the arrival of Jose Mourinho as manager of Inter in the summer.

January 13th, 2009 MADRID - Spanish champions Real Madrid have officially denied that club president Ramon Calderon was engaged in vote-rigging at the club's annual general assembly Dec 7. Sports daily Marca alleged Tuesday that Calderon had 'stolen the assembly', by sneaking in several fans not qualified to be delegates.

January 4th, 2009 MADRID - Real Madrid and Sevilla now share third place in the Spanish Liga. Real beat Villarreal 1-0 at home, and Sevilla were surprisingly held to a 1-1 draw by bottom team Osasuna Sunday.

December 29th, 2008 LONDON - Wigan Athletic's Antonio Valencia's agent claims he has not had any contact with Real Madrid but admits the winger would jump at the chance to secure a move to the Bernabeu. Speculation is rife that the Spanish champions are set to offer a $24 million bid for Valencia and are already in discussions with Wigan.