Real Madrid's Royston Drenthe Close To Benfica Move - Report

Real Madrid look set to off-load wing-back Royston Drenthe to Portuguese giants Benfica.

According to Marca, a deal between the two parties could be struck in the coming hours, although the paper believes that a problem that could scupper the move is the personal agreement between Benfica and Drenthe himself, given the player’s wage demands.

Another sticking point is the amount of the transfer fee. Although no figure has been quoted yet, it is reported that Madrid will try to recover as much of the €13 million that they paid for the Dutchman to Feyenoord in 2007.

It is also believed that Los Blancos will insert a clause in the transfer that will allow the Spanish juggernauts to repurchase the player within the first three years.

Turkish side Galatasaray have been linked to Drenthe, while reports yesterday also suggested that that Madrid could use the 23-year-old in a player-plus-cash swoop for Lyon's Michel Bastos.

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