Real Madrid sign Brazilian hotshot; Barca’s Cuenca joins Ajax

Real Madrid sign Brazilian hotshot

Real Madrid have announced on their official website that they have signed Sao Paulo midfielder Casemiro.

Casemiro, 20, has joined los Blancos on loan until the end of the season with an option to buy.

The highly rated midfielder will spend some time in Real Madrid Castilla before he joins the senior squad and makes himself available to Jose Mourinho.

“It’s not that he will play for the B team, he will just acclimatise in the B team, and then will play for the A team later on,” the player’s agent Joseph Lee told Lancenet.

“This is something he needs, but the offer comes for him to play for the senior team, he is not a B team player.

Carlos Henrique Casemiro has spent his entire career at Sao Paulo, but after showing a lot of potential at the start of his career, he has lost a starting berth this season.

Real Madrid officials took advantage of the situation to sign the player on loan and take a closer look at him before they decide to make the transfer permanent.

The combative midfielder has so far made 61 league appearances for Sao Paulo, scoring 6 goals in the process, while he has 3 Brazil caps to his name.

Barca’s Cuenca joins Ajax

Ajax Amsterdam have produced quite a coup on transfer deadline day having signed winger Isaac Cuenca on loan from Barcelona.

The Dutch giants completed the deal late last night and announced it on their official website.

“Ajax have reached an agreement with Isaac Cuenca. The loan commences immediately and will run for five months, until June 30, 2012,” a statement on their official website read.

Cuenca, 21, made quite a breakthrough last season, when he made 29 competitive appearances for the Catalans, scoring 4 goals in the process.

He has missed the start of the 2012/2013 season through a knee injury, but resumed full training a week ago.

Cuenca will now get a chance to gain some much needed match practice at Ajax, with the move likely to benefit all three parties.

Zenit set to sign Serie A star

Portuguese newspaper A Bola is reporting that Zenit are on the verge of signing Siena defender Luis Neto.

The Russian club officials have been in talks with the Serie A side for a couple of days now and they are expected to sort out the final details this morning in Milan.

Zenit have agreed to pay €6 million for the highly rated defender, who will sign a four-and-a-half year deal.

The transfer window in Russia does not close until 27th February, meaning there is plenty of time for the deal to go through.

Zenit decided to turn their attention towards Neto after the transfer taking Sevilla stopper Federico Fazio to St Petersburg unexpectedly fell through.

Luis Neto was linked with both Juventus and Lazio, but after the Serie A giants failed to make their move, the Russians became the favourites for the player’s signature.

Neto, 24, has made 24 Serie A appearances for Siena since joining the club from Nacional last summer.

For more news about football transfers and rumours, visit our Transfer News section. To view all football transfers for 2012/13 season, visit our Soccer Transfers section.