Real Madrid agree Coentrao deal: report

Madrid: Real Madrid and Benfica have reached an agreement in principle for defender Fabio Coentrao, according to reports from Portugal.

The 23-year-old has long been linked with a move to the Santiago Bernabeu, and has expressed a willingness to complete a switch to the Spanish capital to team-up with Portuguese compatriot Cristiano Ronaldo.

Benfica president Luis Filipe Vieira reportedly negotiated with Spanish officials in Madrid earlier in the week, and Record claims a deal has been reached after the club were satisfied by an undisclosed offer. Recent speculation suggested that a fee in the region of 22 million euros had been reached.

Coentrao is supposedly expected in Madrid to have a medical and reach an agreement over personal terms this weekend, but this has not been confirmed officially by the clubs.

A Madrid source has reacted to the reports from Portugal on Friday morning, and told the Lusa news agency: "We have no comments to make about negotiations, about players, about reports."

Portuguese publication A Bola claims that Benfica are now keen on Cristian Ansaldi of Rubin Kazan as a replacement for the full-back.