Di Maria becomes Mourinho's first signing at Madrid

Real Madrid have agreed to sign Angel di Maria, the Argentina winger, on a six-year contract from the Portuguese club Benfica. The Spanish giants paid an initial ?25 million (Dh112.5m) for Di Maria with peformance-related add-ons, Benfica said in a statement to the Lisbon stock exchange. Di Maria, 22, who has been a regular in Argentina's midfield at the World Cup, became the first signing by Jose Mourinho, the new Real coach. Di Maria, who moved to Portugal in 2007, won last season's league title with Benfica, as well as two Portuguese League Cups. He was an Under 20 World Cup winner and an Olympic gold medalist with Argentina.

Cristian Bonilla, Colombia's U20 international goalkeeper, claims he is set to sign for Manchester City, the English Premier League side. "The only thing that is left to do is my medical tests and sign the contract," Bonilla, 17, told the Colombian newspaper Futbolred. A deal is said to have been agreed with Boyaca Chico, the Colombian club, which will see Bonilla spend time on loan in Spain to help adapt to European football.

"Besides the fact that I may be loaned to another team, this is an important door that gets opened for my career, so I will have to start to take English lessons very soon. "This is a very important step forward in my career, everything has been arranged and according to what the president, Eduardo Pimental, has said to me the transfer has been confirmed." Also in England, Wigan have signed Mauro Boselli, the Argentine striker, from Estudiantes for an undisclosed fee.

The 25-year-old has passed a medical at the DW Stadium and agreed terms on a four-year deal. Boselli arrives with an impressive record having netted 32 goals in 57 appearances for Estudiantes. In France, Didier Deschamps, the Marseille coach, has ended speculation over his future by extending his contract by a year until June 2012. The former France captain, who led the south coast club to the Ligue 1 title last term, had been linked with the Liverpool job as a replacement for Rafa Benitez.

Jean-Claude Dassier, the Marseille president who revealed at the weekend that Liverpool had contacted him over Deschamps, told the club's website: "Liverpool was a serious matter but I always trusted Didier to stay with us." Deschamps, who has been at the Stade Velodrome since 2009 after spells in charge of Juventus and Monaco, admitted he was "flattered" by the interest from the English Premier League club, but wanted to continue his work at Marseille.

"If I ask for respect from my players, the least I can do is to be comparable in my commitment to the club. I owe it to the OM," he said. In Spain, a group headed by Llorenc Serra Ferrer, the former coach of Barcelona and Real Betis, have decided to buy the majority shareholding in Real Mallorca, the cash-strapped Primera Liga club. Mallorca are in the process of going into voluntary administration.

* Agencies