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In the last moments of the transfer window closing at midnight in Madrid, they managed to rent Spanish national team forward Jose Antonio Reyes from London for a year, in exchange for renting out Brazilian national team forward Julio Baptista for a year.
The deal was confirmed by the Spanish club on Friday night, adding that both teams will have the right to buy the players after the season.
The 22-year-old J.A. Reyes, capable of playing as a left winger and forward, was one of the most sought-after "Real" players this summer.
"I am the happiest person in the world," J.A. Reyes told the Spanish radio station "Radio Marca. "I couldn't believe it until I signed the contract."
The Spaniard became the fifth major signing by the rejuvenated Madrid "Real" this summer after Ramon Calderon became club president. Earlier, the team was reinforced by Italy's World Cup-winning captain Fabio Cannavaro, Brazil's midfielder Emerson, Netherlands forward Ruud van Nistelrooy, and Mali defender Mahamadou Diarra.
Interestingly, J.A. Reyes became only the second Spanish player in the last five years to join the Royal club. Last summer, the Madrid team was bolstered by Sevilla's defender Sergio Ramos for about 30 million euros.
Arsenal paid a record fee of £17 million to Sevilla for Spanish national team forward J.A. Reyes in January 2004, but despite shining on the field at times, he was often criticized for inconsistency.
J.A. Reyes has represented the Spanish national team 21 times but did not go to the 2004 European Championship in Portugal with the team. In this year's World Cup in Germany, he played only 69 minutes in the match against Saudi Arabia.
24-year-old midfielder and forward J. Baptista, who has already been coveted by Arsenal, was acquired by the Royal club from Sevilla for about $24 million last year. However, the Brazilian did not fit into the plans of the new "Real" coach, Italian Fabio Capello.
Although the powerful Brazilian scored 50 goals in two seasons with Sevilla, he failed to secure a place in the starting lineup for "Real".
