Atletico Madrid to sign Simao for Manchester City-bound Petrov

Marca said that Atleti have agreed to pay Benfica around 25 million euros (34.43 million dollars) for the Portuguese winger, which would make him a club record signing.

 Simao, 27, was said to fly into Madrid later Thursday for medical checks. If these went well he was to be presented as an Atletico player on Friday.

 Simao was very close to signing for Valencia a year ago. He played for Barcelona from 1999 to 2001, but failed to convince then due to his tender age.

 Atletico's plan is for Simao to cover for left-winger Martin Petrov, about to be sold off to Manchester City after two disappointing, injury-ruined seasons at the Estadio Calderon.

 The signing of Simao will bring Atletico's total summer spending to 67 million euros (92.27 million dollars).

 He will be their seventh signing, after Diego Forlan, Raul Garcia, Cleber Santana, Diego Costa, Luis Garcia and Christian Abbiati.

 The Simao deal means that Atleti are no longer interested in FC Porto winger Ricardo Quaresma, though they could still be in the chase for Villarreal playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme.

DPA