Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo has completed his £80 million world record transfer to Real Madrid.
'Real Madrid and Manchester United have signed the final agreement for the transfer of the rights of the player Cristiano Ronaldo effective 1 July,' the Spanish club said on their website (www.realmadrid.com).
'The player will remain at Real Madrid for the next six seasons and will be presented on 6 July at the Bernabeu stadium,' the statement said.
The Portugal superstar came close to joining Madrid last summer before Sir Alex Ferguson convinced him to stay at Old Trafford.
But Ramon Calderon, who was president of Madrid at the time, claimed this month a 'gentleman's agreement' existed over the signing before he left the Spanish giants in January.
Nevertheless, Ronaldo becomes the latest signing in Florentino Perez's Madrid revolution.
Perez, who was responsible for bringing the likes of Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham and Luis Figo to the Bernabeu in his first stint as president, has already taken Brazil star Kaka from AC Milan and Spain international Raul Albiol from Valencia.
Ronaldo joined Manchester United back in 2003 from Sporting Lisbon for £12.24million and was given the number seven shirt vacated by Beckham.
He won the FA Cup in his first season and, though he impressed with his skills, was often criticised for a lack of end product.
In the 2006-07 season he won his first Premier League title, and also claimed the PFA Young Player of the Year and Players' Player of the Year awards.
But it was the 2007-08 season which defined him as one of the greatest players in the world game.
He scored 42 goals in all competitions, including the opener in the Champions League final win over Chelsea, as United claimed a domestic and European double.
That year brought with it the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards.
The season ended with intense speculation about a move to Madrid, a move which ultimately did not materialise.
Whilst Ronaldo this year did not quite hit the heights of his last campaign, he again impressed as United won the Premier League and Club World Cup.
Madrid have also announced the departure of out of favour striker Javier Saviola to Benfica. The fee is €5 million, a stark comparison to the fee paid for Ronaldo.
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