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Brazil defender Lucio moves to Inter Milan
Brazil defender Lucio is leaving Bayern Munich for Italian champion Inter Milan, where he is expected to sign a three-year contract.
Munich:
Brazil defender Lucio is leaving Bayern Munich for Italian champion Inter Milan, where he is expected to sign a three-year contract.
Bayern agreed on Thursday to release Lucio from his contract, which had another year to run, ending weeks of speculation over the 31-year-old player's future.
Bayern manager Uli Hoeness said Bayern agreed "through gritted teeth" to accept Lucio's wish to leave. Lucio will sign a three-year deal with Inter, subject to a medical, he said.
The German club said both sides agreed not to disclose the transfer fee for Lucio, who won the World Cup with Brazil in 2002 and captained his national team at the Confederations Cup in South Africa.
Hoeness said that Inter Milan wanted to offer players in exchange "but we rejected that. We wanted cash. Now we have cash _ so we agreed."
Lucio said during the Confederations Cup that he wanted to play a few more years in Europe but was unsure whether he would remain with Bayern following reported criticism from new coach Louis Van Gaal.
Bayern president Franz Beckenbauer said that was based on "misunderstandings" and argued that the team should keep Lucio, but speculation persisted.
Lucio joined Bayern in 2004 from German rival Bayer Leverkusen. He has played 144 Bundesliga games for the club, winning three league and German Cup doubles.
Bayern has made several major signings for the new season, including Croatia forward Ivica Olic and Germany striker Mario Gomez.
Alongside the Lucio saga, Bayern also has spent recent weeks fending off interest in France winger Franck Ribery from Real Madrid.
Hoeness said an internal club deadline for any Ribery transfer expired on Wednesday.
"It has been clearly determined that Franck is staying with us," Hoeness said.
Bayern agreed on Thursday to release Lucio from his contract, which had another year to run, ending weeks of speculation over the 31-year-old player's future.
Bayern manager Uli Hoeness said Bayern agreed "through gritted teeth" to accept Lucio's wish to leave. Lucio will sign a three-year deal with Inter, subject to a medical, he said.
The German club said both sides agreed not to disclose the transfer fee for Lucio, who won the World Cup with Brazil in 2002 and captained his national team at the Confederations Cup in South Africa.
Hoeness said that Inter Milan wanted to offer players in exchange "but we rejected that. We wanted cash. Now we have cash _ so we agreed."
Lucio said during the Confederations Cup that he wanted to play a few more years in Europe but was unsure whether he would remain with Bayern following reported criticism from new coach Louis Van Gaal.
Bayern president Franz Beckenbauer said that was based on "misunderstandings" and argued that the team should keep Lucio, but speculation persisted.
Lucio joined Bayern in 2004 from German rival Bayer Leverkusen. He has played 144 Bundesliga games for the club, winning three league and German Cup doubles.
Bayern has made several major signings for the new season, including Croatia forward Ivica Olic and Germany striker Mario Gomez.
Alongside the Lucio saga, Bayern also has spent recent weeks fending off interest in France winger Franck Ribery from Real Madrid.
Hoeness said an internal club deadline for any Ribery transfer expired on Wednesday.
"It has been clearly determined that Franck is staying with us," Hoeness said.
Topics mentioned in this article
Football
Bayern Munchen