Real Madrid president Vicente Boluda has defended the loan signing of West Ham United midfielder Julien Faubert.

Faubert's arrival did not involved sports director Predrag Mijatovic, which sparked stories he was being marginalised.

But Boluda insisted: "At that time, Mijatovic was doing other more important things. We made the decision after the price being quoted for the Ecuadorian Valencia (of Wigan) of contacting Faubert and finally, after speaking with Juande (Ramos), we stayed with him.

"Mijatovic is a man who is helping the club and has clear ideas. He also has a contract until 2010, when satisfies the election cycle."