Cris crosses Atlantic for Leverkusen

Bayer 04 Leverkusen expect to make Brazilian international Cris their second central defensive capture in 24 hours later today, following the arrival of Polish international Radoslav Kaluzny at the BayArena.

Finishing touches
The Cruzeiro EC player is putting the finishing touches to a contract which will see the 25-year-old join the 1. Bundesliga club for the remainder of the season for a fee of €800,000, with Leverkusen having an option to sign Cris permanently for a further €3.2m at the end of the season.

Struggling domestically
Despite advancing to the second group stage of the UEFA Champions League, where they have lost both their opening matches to FC Barcelona and Internazionale FC, Leverkusen are struggling in 14th position domestically. Leverkusen received some catastrophic news on Sunday when captain Jens Nowotny was ruled out for the season after damaging cruciate ligaments in a game marking his return from an identical injury.

Lucio also injured
Coach Klaus Toppmöller is also unable to call on his other regular centre-back, Lucio, as the Brazilian's recovery from a foot injury is taking longer than expected, hence his double foray into the transfer market. Kaluzny, bought for between €1.5m and €2m, brings a wealth of experience to Leverkusen after representing his country on 35 occasions.

World Cup qualifying
Cris is also an international, turning out for Brazil in the 2001 Copa America and several qualifying matches for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, although he did not make the final 23-man squad which eventually won the championship. He joined Cruzeiro from SC Corinthians Paulista three years ago.