The Holland international will ink a five-year contract in Madrid today after Real announced agreement with Ajax last night.

The two clubs reached a compromise over the fee last night after Real had earlier indicated they weren't prepared to meet Ajax's previous demands of £18.5 million.

AS says a conversation between Real president Ramon Calderon and Sneijder on Saturday convinced him to push sports director Pedja Mijatovic to close an agreement yesterday.

"President, I am at staying at my house and I am not going to go to training with Ajax because I want to be a Madrid player," Sneijder reportedly told Calderon on Saturday.

While negotiations were difficult, Ajax and Real maintain a warm relationship, which was typified by the Dutch club's president, John Jakke, contacting Calderon last night and thanking him for the way talks were conducted. "You have signed the best midfielder in the world," Jakke relayed to Calderon during the conversation.

Sneijder is due in Madrid at 9:30am this morning for his medical and a lunch meeting with Mijatovic ahead of being unveiled at the Santiago Bernabeu in the afternoon.