Madrid Finally Seal Robben Deal for £24.5m

Real Madrid finally completed the signing of Chelsea's winger Arjen Robben last night for a fee believed to be close to €36m (£24.5m), thus ending a long courtship that goes back over a year.

The 23-year-old Dutch winger had made little secret of his desire to move to the Spanish capital and had refused to sign a new deal with Chelsea. He agreed personal terms with Madrid over a month ago but was left in limbo as Chelsea rejected Madrid's advances. Madrid offered €30m up front and then €36m in installments 20 days ago. Both offers were rejected.

Robben was one of three electoral promises made by Ramón Calderón when he became Madrid president in the summer of 2006, alongside Cesc Fábregas and Milan's Brazilian playmaker Kaka. Calderón failed to sign any of the three last summer and launched fresh bids this summer. While Fábregas said no and Milan refused to release Kaka, Calderón continued to insist that a deal for Robben was close.

Chelsea's on-going refusal to sell represented an embarrassment that grew ever greater as Madrid stumbled their way through pre-season, with the coach, Bernd Schuster, insisting that signing the Dutchman was "vital".

Robben has been joined at Real by Manchester United's left-back Gabriel Heinze, who completed his move last night, as well as other new signings, Christoph Metzelder, Pepe, Jerzy Dudek, Royston Drenthe and Javier Saviola.

Chelsea, meanwhile, last night appeared to be switching their attention away from the Sevilla full-back Daniel Alves, having agreed a €5.5m fee with Barcelona for their Brazilian right-back Juliano Belletti.