Diarra will leave Pompey

Pompey agreed a deal with Real for the 23-year-old midfielder earlier this week, with the fee reported to be in the region of £20million.

The France international, who was also interesting Manchester City, is expected to sign a four-and-a-half-year contract at the Bernabeu if there are no problems with the medical.

Madrid had an offer for the Frenchman accepted on Wednesday, although City boss Mark Hughes later said he was still interested in hijacking the move and taking him to Eastlands.

But the former Chelsea and Arsenal man has opted to join the current Primera Liga champions.

He is likely to earn an immediate starting spot at the Bernabeu with fellow defensive midfielders Mahamadou Diarra and Ruben de la Red both ruled out for the season.

Diarra will work under new Madrid coach Juande Ramos, who is in charge until the end of the season following the sacking of Bernd Schuster earlier this month.

Madrid must like the name Diarra cos they have 2 of them, lol, I havent seen Lassana play, soo i dont know what hes like, but i hope he can do well, cos at the moment we need some help

Diarra breezes through Real medical
Diarra joins Madrid from Portsmouth for a fee reportedly in the region of £20million, and will pen a four-and-a-half-year contract that ties him to the Spanish giants until 2013.

The 23-year-old France international will be unveiled to the media at the club's Bernabeu stadium at a presentation this afternoon.

After his medical on Monday morning, Carlos Diez, the head of medical services at Real Madrid, said: "The player's health is exceptional and he is perfectly fit for sporting activity.

"Moreover, he has a lot of desire and if it wasn't for the Christmas holidays he would already be at work."

Diarra follows in the footsteps of Klaas Jan Huntelaar and Dani Parejo as recent additions to a Madrid squad that has been decimated by injuries in recent months.

Huntelaar was signed from Dutch giants Ajax while Parejo was recalled from his loan spell at QPR in England.

Those players will help cover the losses of Ruud van Nistelrooy, Mahamadou Diarra and Ruben de la Red, who have all been ruled out for the rest of the season.

I hope he does well for Real, because they need some help and they spent about 20M on him. But, im usre he will do well

Lol, RM have had alot of bad luck this year with injuries of what i see, Ruud, Diarra ( the other one) , de la red (dont know him). Im sure he will help, and is De La Red any good?

Diarra: City offered me more cash

Diarra, however, opted to move to Spain and passed a medical on Monday en route to completing his move from Portsmouth for a reported £20million fee.

He told L'Equipe: "Were Manchester City keen to sign me? Yes, indeed. On a financial level, I would have earned a lot more.

"But Real are very attractive. I believe I have earned respect. I was in England for five years and learnt a lot of things there.

"I became very attached to the Premier League. You can't leave it that easily. But Real came, and I was their priority. That makes you think. It is an honour."

Good on him, he wanted to play in a better team more than money, tht shows he cares more about the game than money