Atletico Madrid snap up Riquelme

Atletico Madrid continued their summer spending spree Wednesday in snapping up Argentine playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme from Villarreal, Cadena Ser radio reported.

The radio said both parties had reached agreement, to be sealed officially Thursday, on a two-year contract with an additional year option.

Riquelme, out of favour with Villarreal's Chilean coach Manuel Pellegrini and recently plying his trade on loan to Boca Juniors in his homeland, had earlier said he would be willing to play for nothing if hard-up Boca had paid a transfer fee.

The 29-year-old spent the second half of last season on loan at Boca and helped the Argentines to victory in the Copa Libertadores but the club said they believed that all in all they would have to find some 20 million dollars to buy him, including image rights.

Riquelme's deal with Villarreal ran to June 2009 and he had been training on his own since the start of the new season, while his teammates enjoyed a 3-0 away success last weekend at Valencia.

Atletico, having lost striker Fernando Torres to Liverpool, have responded by spending 77 million euros this summer on new talent, not quite as much as the 120 million shelled out by neighbours Real, who beat them 2-1 at the Bernabeu last Saturday.

Other arrivals were keeper Christian Abbiati on loan from AC Milan, midfield star Luis Garcia from Liverpool, Riquelme's former Villarreal teammate Diego Forlan, Portuguese forward Simao and attacking midfielder Jose Antonio Reyes from Arsenal.

West Ham in talks to sign Brazil star Adriano

West Ham have made an approach to sign Inter Milan's out-of-favour striker Adriano on loan.

The Premier League club were reported to have sent chief executive Scott Duxbury to Milan on Tuesday to start talks with the Brazilian.

Adriano has been told he can leave the Serie A champions and had already been offered to Arsenal, who turned down the chance to sign him.

West Ham have invested heavily in the transfer market since Eggert Magnusson took over the club last season, and the attempt to sign such a famous name is further evidence of the Icelandic businessman's determination to take the Hammers into the game's upper echelons.

Gunners manager Arsene Wenger decided that Adriano would not improve his squad despite the pre-season sale of Thierry Henry to Barcelona.

"I was offered Adriano on loan and I said no," Wenger said. "We do not need him and it was an easy decision to make because we're not out there to sign another striker.

"The agreement was for a loan. Adriano has qualities we don't need. They wanted to give us a player but wanted one back in return.

"I won't say who it was. I didn't want to lose the player they requested. I didn't necessarily think Adriano would upset the balance of the squad."