Ismaël leaving Bayern for Hannover

Valérien Ismaël is to leave FC Bayern München after agreeing to join Bundesliga rivals Hannover 96 on 1 January.

Contract
The 32-year-old French defender has signed a contract at Hannover running until 2010 after a move for an undisclosed fee believed to be in the region of €200,000. Former RC Strasbourg, Crystal Palace FC and RC Lens player Ismaël joined Bayern from Werder Bremen in 2005 for €8.5m and in his first season helped the club to the domestic double, just as he had in his debut campaign at the Weserstadion in 2003/04.

Injury
However, Ismaël broke his leg in August 2006 and made just one fleeting first-team appearance the following April that term. He has since been restricted to three reserve games for Bayern this season after undergoing knee surgery in September, but has passed a medical at Hannover.