Spanish Roundup

Italian striker Di Vaio signs five-year deal with Valencia

MADRID (Reuters) -- Spanish champions Valencia have signed Italian striker Marco Di Vaio from Juventus on a five-year contract, the Primera Liga club said on Tuesday.

The club announced the signing while they were inaugurating a new VIP box at their Mestalla stadium.

Spanish sports daily Marca said on its website that Valencia, who also won last season's UEFA Cup, would pay 10.5 million euros ($13.01 million) for the Italy international.

Di Vaio is the third member of the Italian national squad to join the club since Claudio Ranieri took over as coach last month.

Forward Bernardo Corradi and midfielder Stefano Fiore both signed for Valencia from Lazio for a combined fee of 17 million euros.

Di Vaio, 28, was in Italy's Euro 2004 squad but played just seven minutes of their final group game, a 2-1 win over Bulgaria.

The Rome-born player began his career at Lazio before moving on to Verona, Bari and then Salernitana where he scored 33 goals in 67 games.

His goal-scoring exploits brought him to the attention of Parma who signed him for $10 million in March 1999. He went on to score 35 goals in two seasons before switching to Juventus for $25 million in 2002.

He scored seven goals in Juve's championship-winning campaign and featured in their run to the 2003 Champions League final, although he did not play in the defeat by fellow Italians AC Milan.

Last season Di Vaio scored 11 goals in 29 games as Juve finished third in Serie A behind AC Milan and AS Roma.

The arrival of Di Vaio puts further pressure on Valencia striker Mista, who has been linked with a move away from the club after refusing to sign a new contract.

Barca's Saviola approved for Spanish citizenship

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) -- Javier Saviola has been approved to receive Spanish citizenship by the country's government, FC Barcelona said Tuesday on its Web site.

Saviola still has to appear before authorities in order to officially claim his citizenship.

Barcelona had wanted the Argentina international to get the papers so he would no longer take up a spot reserved for non-European Union players.

Saviola, who was born and raised in Argentina, was able to get a Spanish passport through his maternal grandmother.

Real defender Ruben signs with Albacete on loan

MADRID (Reuters) -- Real Madrid have agreed to loan former youth team centre-back Ruben to fellow Primera Liga side Albacete, the club said on Tuesday.

The 22-year-old defender played two games for Real last season before being loaned out to German side Borussia Moenchengladbach. He returned to Spain with a recurrence of a shoulder injury.

Real said they had included a clause in the player's contract to prevent him from playing against them in the league.

Albacete defied predictions by retaining their place in the Primera Liga with a 14th-place finish last season.

Both the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.