Portuguese midfielder Luis Figo will join European champions Real Madrid from arch-rivals Barcelona on Monday, according to the Spanish club's new president Florentino Perez.
In an interview in the newspaper AS, published Saturday, Perez boasted: "Monday, Figo is mine. We'll pay the money to the League and we will present him as a Real Madrid player."
Real, armed with around $31m from the sale of Nicolas Anelka to Paris Saint Germain, will have to cough up 10 billion pesetas (60 million dollars) plus value added tax at 16 per cent to the League in order to release Figo from his contractual obligations to Barca.
But Spanish media reports say that Joan Gaspart, a candidate for Monday's election to the Barca presidency, is not resigned to losing the Portuguese star.
Real's new president Florentino Perez was elected last week on the basis of having made the arrival of Figo the centerpiece of his mandate.
Where the European champions will find the cash is a moot point as they are already a reported 240 million dollars in debt - (AFP)
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