Real Madrid defender Roberto Carlos has agreed to join Turkish champions Fenerbahce at the end of the season. The 34-year-old left-back will leave Real June 30th. Carlos told Spanish newspaper Marca: “Fenerbahce are the club that have shown most interest in signing me and they convinced me with their project. I had a lot of offers from Italy, England and other countries but I was keen to help Fenerbahce.”

One important factor in the decision may be that fellow Brazillian Zico is the coach of Fenerbahce. Fenerbahce won the Turkish league this year and have been trying for the last few seasons to build up a club capable of strongly competing in the Champions League.

Roberto Carlos leaves Madrid after eleven seasons, during which he won three Champions League trophies (98, 00, 02) and three La Liga titles (97, 01, 03). A fourth La Liga title is still very much a possibility this season. Madrid are currently top of the Primera Liga standings and know if they win their final two games they will be crowned Spanish champions for the first time since 2003. Carlos has not been as prominent figure and his playing time has been dramatically reduced, mostly being deployed as a substitute though he has gotten some starts in recent matches. Real have, at times, used the 21-year old Miguel Torres during this current season as a replacement for Carlos at left-back.

The news of Carlos moving on is sure to whip up the speculation about a potential £5 million deal for Manchester United left-back Gabriel Heinze.