London/Madrid, July 29 (DPA) Premier League giants Liverpool officially announced Wednesday the sale of defender Alvaro Arbeloa to Real Madrid, for a fee believed to be around four million euros ($5.69 million).

He is currently undergoing medical checks in Madrid, prior to signing a five-year contract with Real.

Arbeloa was a regular in the first team at Anfield last year but the signing of Glen Johnson from Portsmouth appeared to convince him that he could not be sure of a spot this year.

The 26-year-old only had one year of his Liverpool contract left to run. He was one of manager Rafa Benitez's many Spanish signings, from Deportivo Coruna in January 2007.

Arbeloa, who can play in any of the four defensive positions, started his career at Zaragoza then signed for the Real Madrid youth team in 2002.