Record Zidane deal struck

Real Madrid officials have confirmed that agreement has been reached with Juventus to sign French star Zinedine Zidane for a record £42m.

Florentino Perez and Jorge Valdano put the wheels in motion on Tuesday morning, hiring a private plane to make a secret trip to Turin. Upon their arrival they held lengthy discussions with Juve counterparts Luciano Moggi, Roberto Bettega and Antonio Giraudo to secure the World Cup winner's services.

Juve's asking price of £74m pounds was initially countered with an offer of Brazilian midfielder Flavio Concecaio, only for the Italians to reject the idea out of hand.

Moggi then requested Real's Claude Makelele in part-exchange, but the Madrilenos were not convinced, preferring to keep the deal as a cash-only operation.

Compromise was finally reached, with a figure of 11.5bn pesetas (£42m) agreed, to be paid in four instalments with interest.

Although neither Perez nor Valdano would confirm that the deal had been closed, they admitted that a gentleman's agreement had been reached with Juve and, when Zidane returns from holiday next week, the news will be made official.

This will give Juve enough time to negotiate for star duo Pavel Nedved and Christian Vieri, a move which they hope will placate their fans following the departure of their star player. Perez will return to Italy on Monday to close the deal, with the Spanish champions set to present Zidane to the world's media next Friday.

Perez told Spanish reporters: "We are very pleased with the way the negotiations with Juventus have progressed and if everything goes according to plan the deal will be concluded next week."