Real Madrid roll out the white carpet for Samuel

Real Madrid players welcomed the news that their shaky central defence will be bolstered next season by the arrival of Argentine international Walter Samuel.

Real Madrid acquired Samuel from cash-strapped Serie A club Roma. The player has signed a five-year contract with the Spanish giants and will join the club on July 1.

"He's a good signing and he'll be a big help to the defenders that are already here," Real's Brazilian left back Roberto Carlos told Spanish sports daily Marca on Saturday.

"It was a good decision by the coaches ... I think he'll be a champion many times over with Real Madrid," added the 2002 World Cup winner.

"He's a great player and I think he'll do well here," added Ronaldo, who has on numerous occasions had to try and find his way past Samuel, who is nicknamed 'The Wall'.

Spanish newspaper Marca also celebrated the imminent arrival of Samuel with a huge photo of him on their front page and the headline, "White and radiant."

The phrase was taken from an advert for a well-known washing powder in Spain and Real clearly hope that Samuel will help deter some of the stains left by their numerous shaky performances of late.

The Spanish giants lie in third place and have conceded 50 goals this season, with one match still to play, nearly double that of league leaders Valencia, who were crowned champions two weeks ago.

Real did not say how much they had paid for Samuel but sports daily Marca said they beat English Premiership side Chelsea for his signing with a $29.5 million bid.

Marca reported that Samuel will be paid $4.35 million annually and will formally sign his five year contract on Monday, stopping off in the Spanish capital en-route to his native Argentina where he will join the national team ahead of their forthcoming World Cup qualifiers.

The powerful 26-year-old joined Roma from Argentina's Boca Juniors in 2000.

Real Madrid director general Jorge Valdano said on Saturday that Samuel would be the last player to be signed before the elections for the club president in July.

However, it is widely expected that there will be further arrivals before the start of next season, in a bid to reinforce a squad whose form went into rapid decline over the last two months.

In quick succession, Real lost the Spanish Cup final to Real Zaragoza, crashed out of the European Champions League and then passed their Spanish league crown to Valencia to end the season without a trophy for the first time since 1999.

They have also lost their last four league matches, a club record.

Even though Samuel is likely to be the last player for a few weeks to join Real, club president Florentino Perez is expected to announce any day that Benfica's Jose Antonio Camacho will be take over as coach from Carlos Queiroz.

Queiroz, formerly Sir Alex Ferguson's deputy at Manchester United, could be on his way back to England after just one season at Real.