Real eye Bayern's Altintop

Posted Friday, May 06, 2011 by YAHOO Sport

MADRID (AFP) - Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has added Bayern Munich's Turkish international Hamit Altintop to his shopping list for the summer transfer window, a Spanish sports daily said Friday.

Mourinho hopes the versatile and powerful 28-year-old will give some strength to the midfield as the club look to rebuild for next season, the AS newspaper said.

Altintop's contract with the German giants ends on June 30 and Real hope his transfer would therefore be "a straightforward operation," it said.

Real are already eyeing another German-based Turkish midfielder, Borussia Dortmund's Nuri Sahin, and are close to reaching a deal with Espanyol of Barcelona to sign Spanish striker Jose Maria Callejon for five million euros, Spanish media said Thursday.

The German-born Altintop joined Bayern from Schalke 04 in 2007 and signed a one-year extension to his contract last year.

Real won the King's Cup with victory of arch-rivals Barcelona last month, but hopes of further silverware this year are all but over.

The club lies second in the Primera Liga, eight points behind Barca, who could secure the league title this weekend.

Barcelona also knocked Real out of the Champions League with victory in the semi-final.