Kezman completes move
2005-06-29 15:46
Madrid, Spain - Serbia-Montenegro striker Mateja Kezman completed his transfer to Atletico Madrid from Chelsea on Wednesday after passing a medical.
Kezman signed a three-year contract and reportedly cost Atletico $10.9m. That sum is $1.8m more than Chelsea paid PSV Eindhoven for the striker last year.
Kezman was to be presented at a news conference at Vicente Calderon stadium later on Wednesday.
Atletico finished 11th in Spain's 20-team championship, and scored just 40 goals in 38 league games. Three weeks ago, it fired coach Cesar Ferrando and replaced him with former Boca Juniors coach Carlos Bianchi.
Kezman is Atletico's first new player since the season ended.
He made his name with Partizan Belgrade before joining PSV in 2000 for a four-year spell in which he scored 105 goals.
But Kezman failed to make a major contribution to Chelsea's first league title in 50 years. The 26-year-old scored just four league goals in 24 appearances.
Kezman's difficulties continued when he was dropped from the Serbia-Montenegro squad for the World Cup qualifier against Belgium this month.
- AP