Subject to clearing a medical and agreeing to personal terms, Benfica and Portuguese international left back and left midfielder Fabio Coentrao will be moving to Real Madrid after the two teams agreed to a transfer fee of 30 million Euros. Benfica announced the sale of the player to the stock exchange in Lisbon today. Coentrao has been the subject of various transfer rumors for over a year and his been linked to just about every one of the giant clubs in Europe, but it appears that Real Madrid was the first team to come in and meet Benfica's valuation.
Though Coentrao should fit Jose Mourinho's system and he certainly has the talent to play for Real Madrid, this is still a bit of a curious transfer. It's tough to imagine Coentrao displacing Marcelo or Angel di Maria in the early part of the season while both of those players are healthy, and 30 million Euros is quite a bit of money to pay for a backup, even if he is a great talent and he can backup two positions.
Coentrao is the team's fifth signing of the season, joining Hamit Altintop, Nuri Sahin Jose Callejon, and Rafael Varane.