Italy's World Cup-winning captain Fabio Cannavaro has completed his move to Spanish giants Real Madrid on Tuesday, signing a three-year contract at the Bernabeu and joining his former boss at Juventus, Fabio Capello .

“He was our number one target from the day sports director Predrag Mijatovic and coach Fabio Capello started planning the team,” Real Madrid’s new president Ramon Calderon said at the player's unveiling in the Bernabeu stadium.

Juventus, who have been relegated to Serie B after a match-fixing scandal, have been forced to sell both and Brazilian midfielder Emerson as the Bianconeri face an exodus of players.

Cannavaro has, according to the Spanish media has reported that the total fee for the Azzurri World Cup winning captain is approx €20 million (£13.65 million).

“He is an example for all young players,” continued Calderon. “He was a ball-boy at the World Cup finals in Italy in 1990 and since then has had an extraordinary career.

“He is the first signing of my presidency and is an authentic number one, a great leader.”

In this year's World Cup the former Napoli and Parma player won huge accolade from fans all around the world, winning his 100th international cap in the penalty shoot-out win over France in the World Cup Final to seal a memorable tournament for him and his country, despite the match-fixing scandal that has resulted in Juventus being relegated, and AC Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio docked points in the Italian league.

“I had good times with Juventus but when you are offered the chance to come to Real at almost 33 years of age it is a great opportunity,” said Cannavaro at the unveiling, where he linked-up with his former manager from Juventus, Real’s new boss Fabio Capello.

“I think it would have been difficult to move if Juve were still in Serie A. I didn't think there was much chance of this happening and Juve also saw it as an opportunity for the club.”

“The Capello factor is very important. We both know each other very well,” added Cannavaro.

“My maximum objective now is to win the Champions League. This kind of target gives me the inspiration to keep training and fighting.”

Bookmark/Search this post with:

delicious | digg | google | yahoo | technorati