Real Madrid and Portsmouth have confirmed that midfielder Lassana Diarra has agreed to leave Fratton Park to join the Spanish club in January and will undergo a medical tomorrow. Pompey agreed a deal with the Spanish giants for the 23-year-old midfielder earlier this week, with the fee reported to be in the region of £20m.

>>telegraph.co.uk.

At least this brings this saga to a close, without our reported interest ever becoming official - in terms of a bid at least.

Diarra would undoubtedly have been a good addition to our current squad, not least for it would allow Kompany to move back into defence.

Back to the drawing board for Hughes then.