Hammers loan Julien Faubert to Real

Real Madrid confirmed Saturday they had taken French midfielder Julien Faubert on loan to the end of the season.

Real said they had an option to buy the 25-year-old if he impresses between now and June, adding he would be officially unveiled on Monday.

Faubert, who has one French cap to date, played for Cannes and then Bordeaux before heading to East London in 2007 – but an Achilles tendon rupture kept him sidelined shortly afterwards and he has not featured this season.

West Ham said the Spaniards would pay 1.5 million euros for the loan deal while AS sports daily put a future transfer fee at six million, around two million less than they paid Bordeaux for his services.

Real boss Juande Ramos has also been tracking Wigan’s Ecuadorian star Luis Antonio Valencia.