Brazilian forward Julio Baptista donned the all-white shirt of Real Madrid for the first time on Monday after signing a five-year deal with the club for an initial fee of 20 million euros (13.8 million pounds).
The 23-year-old international received an enthusiastic welcome from 500 fans at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium after he was presented with the number eight by honorary president Alfredo di Stefano.
"This is the happiest day of my life," said Baptista. "I hope that my time here will be a successful one and that I will help Real Madrid win many trophies."
Earlier Baptista told the club's website he was confident his move to the nine-time European champions would help him become a better player.
Real have also signed his international colleague Robinho but the 21-year-old striker will not join until August 25.
A convoluted transfer saga was finally brought to an end on Saturday when Robinho's club Santos accepted Real's $30 million offer for their 60 percent share of the player's rights as long as he could make several more appearances for them in the Brazilian championship.
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez said in signing the Brazilian duo, the club was aiming to honour its commitment to entertaining football.
"Baptista is a great player and a great person," he said. "He comes from Brazil, the cradle of the best football in the world.
"For everyone Brazil signifies magic and fantasy in football and that's why we've tried to bring players from there into our team."
In a radical overhaul of a squad that has struggled to live up to its billing over the past two seasons, Real have also signed Uruguayan duo Pablo Garcia and Carlos Diogo to add more depth and balance to midfield and defence.
NEW RECRUITS
The arrival of the new recruits is expected to accelerate the departure of several of Real's leading players.
Argentine defender Walter Samuel is poised to sign for Inter Milan for 16 million euros, nine million less than the fee for which he joined Real from AS Roma last season.
Former World and European Player of the Year Luis Figo is also expected to join Inter and England striker Michael Owen is reported to be mulling over a possible return to the Premier League in the light of the club's new signings up front.
Baptista arrived in Spain as a relative unknown in July 2003 when he joined Sevilla from Sao Paulo for $2.8 million.
Sevilla coach Joaquin Caparros met with spectacular results when he converted the player from a defensive midfielder into a second forward.
Earning the sobriquet "La Bestia" (the Beast) for his bulldozing runs into the area, he ended his first season as leading scorer with 20 league goals from 30 appearances.
Last term he notched 18 goals to help Sevilla to a sixth-place finish in the Primera Liga and finished his two-year spell at the club with a total of 50 goals in all competitions.
Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Barcelona all tried to recruit the powerful forward but Real Madrid eventually secured his services with their offer of 20 million euros plus another 4.5 million based on performance.
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