Chelsea confirm sale of Ricardo Carvalho to Real Madrid

Posted on August 12, 2010 by SoccerPunter

MADRID : Chelsea’s Portuguese defender Ricardo Carvalho is set to sign a two-year deal with Real Madrid, the Spanish club said on Wednesday.

The Premier League champions earlier confirmed they have agreed a fee with Real Madrid for the sale of the 32-year-old Portuguese defender.

“The player will be bound to Real Madrid for the next two seasons,” Real Madrid said in a statement without giving details of the transfer fee which Spanish media have reported will be in the region of eight million euros.

Carvalho will join compatriot Jose Mourinho, his manager at both Porto and Chelsea, at Spanish giants Real, having won the Champions League with Porto in 2004 when Mourinho coached the club. Carvalho will become Real’s fifth signing of the summer transfer window, following Angel Di Maria, Sergio Canales, Pedro Leon and Sami Khedira, when the deal is finalised.

He joined Mourinho at Chelsea that year for a fee of around 20 million euros but last year he fell down the pecking order at the west London club

In total he made 210 appearances for Chelsea, scoring 11 goals, and during his time at Stamford Bridge, helped the team win three Premier League titles, two FA Cups and two English League Cups.

The Portugal international picked up a third Premier League title last season but has seen his first-team chances reduce in recent seasons, with Brazilian defender Alex finding favour under Guus Hiddink and then Carlo Ancelotti.

A regular for most of his time at Chelsea, he made just 18 appearances last season – which he has called “the worst year of my life” – as injuries caused him to fall out of the starting line-up. He will join Joe Cole, Michael Ballack, Deco and Juliano Belletti in leaving Stamford Bridge this summer.