Zinedine Zidane confirms Danilo's exit prior to Man City move

Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane has insisted that defender Danilo has left the club during his pre-conference in Los Angeles yesterday.

The Brazil international is on the cusp of sealing a move to Manchester City with the Citizens having agreed on an initial £26.5m sum to pursue his services.

Prior to Real's pre-season friendly against Manchester City, Zidane confirmed that the player has joined Alvaro Morata through the exit door, and the club will seek to find options to manage things.

"We've had some very good players move on and some young guys come in. We always try to make improvements," the Frenchman told reporters, via ESPN.

"Danilo has gone and [Alvaro] Morata too. I'm not saying we're lacking a striker, but there's one missing that we had here last year. That's the way it is. We'll look at how we're going to manage things."

Danilo was initially said to be headed to Chelsea, but the Blues' failed to match Los Blancos' valuation before the Citizens lodged their bid.

The full-back position is in need of effective strengthening for the Citizens, and Danilo's presence will be a huge boost as he can feature on either side of the central defenders.

Manchester City are also close to wrapping up a deal for Benjamin Mendy for whom they have been in constant negotiations with AS Monaco over the past month.