LYON, France (AFP) - June Spain’s Atletico Madrid on Friday signed French international goalkeeper Gregory Coupet from champions Lyon for 1.5 million euros, Lyon announced.

Coupet, 35, had been set to sign last week following talks but the move hit a hitch over the fee.

Coupet had a clause in his Lyon contract running to 2010 allowing him to leave Lyon, with whom he has won seven straight league titles, for three million euros, but the Spanish finally got their man for less.

Atletico will pay an extra 500,000 euros if Coupet helps them qualify for the Champions League in the next two seasons.

This year they will participate in the final qualifying round of the competition.

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MANCHESTER, England (AFP) - Manchester United said Friday the latest reports claiming star winger Cristiano Ronaldo was about to move to Spanish giants Real Madrid were "utter nonsense" and insisted the Portugal international was not for sale.

Ronaldo, a boyhood Real fan, has been linked with a move to the Spanish capital since the end of last season even though he scored a hugely impressive 42 goals in all competitions last term as United won both the Premier League and Champions League trophies.

The 23-year-old may miss the start of next season should he need surgery on an ankle injury.

In the meantime, United insisted their prize asset would not be joining Real within the next few days. "It is utter nonsense and totally laughable. Cristiano Ronaldo is not for sale," said a club spokesman.

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has become increasingly frustrated by Real’s very public courting of Ronaldo, whose Old Trafford contract runs until 2012. And that led United to report the Bernabeu club to FIFA although the global governing body have taken no action against Real.

Were Ronaldo to leave Old Trafford, it is unlikely he would depart for a fee of much less than 70 million pounds.

United leave for their tour of South Africa on July 18 but Ronaldo was not scheduled to be a member of the squad for that pre-season trip.

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GELSENKIRCHEN (SW) - Dutchman Orlando Engelaar will join German Bundesliga side Schalke 04. The player will be re-united with manager Fred Rutten.

Rutten recently made a move to Schalke from FC Twente, which was also the club where Engelaar became one of the stronger players in the Dutch Eredivisie this season.

The Rotterdam-born midfielder, 28 years old, began his career at NAC Breda in 2000. Four years later he left the Netherlands for the first time to join KRC Genk and in 2006 he signed a deal with FC Twente, whom he helped to clinch a Champions League preliminary round spot for next season.

It is unknown how much Schalke will be paying for the player, who formed part of the Dutch squad for Euro 2008.

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SYDNEY (AFP) - Former Liverpool star Harry Kewell has passed up the opportunity to play for Australia at the Beijing Olympics to pursue a club career with Turkey’s Galatasaray.

The Australian international has signed a three-year deal with the Turkish giants after five injury-plagued seasons at Anfield.

Galatasaray official Haldun Ustunel said they had reached agreement on all contract issues and Kewell was expected to arrive in Istanbul late on Friday.

"As a result of long-standing efforts, we have come to the point of recruiting a very important player to Galatasaray," Ustunel told the club’s website.

"We have agreed on all issues. He shares our excitement," said Ustunel, describing Kewell as "a great power".

The move to Galatasaray has ended any possibility of Kewell being one of Australia’s three over-age players at the Beijing Olympics.

Socceroos Archie Thompson, David Carney and Jade North are the three over-age players in the 18-man Australian under-23 squad for next month’s Games.

"It’s not easy for him as soon as he signs for a new club to ask for four weeks to go to the Olympics," said Olympics coach Graham Arnold, who played and was an assistant coach at two previous Games.

During his time with Leeds, Kewell played against Galatasaray in the UEFA Cup semi-final in 2000, when he was sent off.

Home-based defender North and Sheffield United wing-back Carney played in Australia’s World Cup qualifiers last month, while Melbourne Victory striker Thompson is recovering from a knee injury.

Arnold overlooked the claims of promising former Adelaide United strike pair, Bruce Djite and Nathan Burns, who have signed for overseas clubs.

"They are only 20 and were pretty much in between Olympic age groups and that made it pretty difficult for them," Arnold said.

North, an Athens Olympian, said: "It is a real honour to be picked to go to Beijing.

"I can’t wait to start training with them and get over there. I really hope to go in and lead by example for the younger players."

After finishing seventh in Athens, North wants to see Australia achieve more this time round, although they are grouped with defending Olympic champions Argentina, Ivory Coast and Serbia.

"I feel like I have been given another chance and I want to go all the way this time," North said.

Arnold said the three over-age players would bring international experience to the under-23 team in Beijing.

"The three over-age players will bring both attacking flair and strong defence to the team," he said.

The Australian squad contains seven overseas-based players, while defender Mark Milligan and striker James Troisi are currently uncontracted to overseas clubs.

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