Wesley Sneijder expects to be fit for Real Madrid's October 5 clash with Espanyol.

The Dutch midfielder is fully recovered from a preseason knee injury and revealed: "I feel very good. I have trained very hard in double sessions to reduce the time I'd be out and this has helped me to build up very strong muscles in my legs.

"When I was told about the injury, they said I would be three months out and I said, 'it will be two months'.

"I am very keen to get back into the shirt of Madrid."

Sneijder added: "The team looks very good to me and we are strong. We have not changed much, we are the same as last year plus Rafael Van der Vaart. This year we want to play better in the Champions League.

"We have the quality to do so and to win many titles with this team."

Real Madrid sports director Predrag Mijatovic has defended the club from criticism that they failed to add top quality players in the summer transfer market.

The Spanish champions were unsuccessful in their attempts to lure Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo, Valencia striker David Villa and Villarreal winger Santi Cazorla to the Bernabeu during the close season.

On the final day of the transfer window, they reluctantly sold Brazil forward Robinho to Manchester City after the player insisted he wanted to leave, prompting criticism from local media that the squad was short on quality for the new campaign.

“We can function very well without Cristiano Ronaldo or David Villa. The first year I was here we did well without Kaka (a player president Ramon Calderon had promised to buy) and we won two leagues without him,” Mijatovic told Real Madrid television.

“Real Madrid is above individual players even if they are the best in the world "

“We had conversations with Manchester United and they didn’t want to let Cristiano Ronaldo go. We made an offer for David Villa but did not want to pay what Valencia asked for him.”

Real have strengthened their squad with the signing of Netherlands midfielder Rafael van der Vaart, the recall of two former youth team players from loan spells with other Primera Liga clubs, Javi Garcia and Ruben de la Red, and Argentina defender Ezequiel Garay.

The 21-year-old Garay is to play on loan with Racing Santander this season.

“Although it may seem like we have not signed anyone we have landed four players you can rely on,” he added.

“We have a squad of 24 and this is ample. We do not plan to make any signings in the winter transfer window, although you never know what may happen in football."

“We have a competitive team, capable of competing at a national level and in the Champions League, and we should not be worried.”

Mijatovic added that Real were not concerned their power in the transfer market would wane due to the arrival of major investors in world football, such as the Abu Dhabi-based company that bought Manchester City.

“I am not worried because great football players want to achieve genuine success and if they want to chose between a good contract and playing for Real Madrid, I don’t think they will hesitate in their decision,” Mijatovic said.

Despite a nice influx of cash on the last day of the summer transfer market, Real Madrid sporting director, Predrag Mijatovic has ruled out any possible signings in the January transfer window.

Real Madrid had a traumatic summer in the transfer market by their standards. They failed to sign any of their major targets, such as Cristiano Ronaldo, David Villa and Santi Cazorla, and they also lost their prized asset, Robinho.

But boosted by the cash from the sale of the Brazilian to Manchester City on the last day of the shopping window, Madrid were expected to open their cheque books come Christmas time for the January trade period and numerous names have even been linked with a move to the Spanish capital, including Lukas Podolski and more recently, Aaron Lennon.

The club’s sports director Predrag Mijatovic, however, has now revealed in an interview with RealMadrid TV that the reining La Liga champions will not be looking to bring in any new faces during the mid-season break.

“Real Madrid will not make any signings in the winter transfer market,” was his blunt reply when asked by the interviewer.

“We have a group of 24 players and at this stage, we do not have the intentions of recruiting any new players, although in football, you never know,” he explained further.

Mijatovic was then asked to access the club’s failed summer transfer activities, starting with David Villa.

“We made an offer for him, one which we considered sufficient, but his club Valencia made a counter-offer which made it impossible for us to negotiate. We were not about to go mad for him."

“As for Cazorla, I was specifically ordered by the president not to be forced to pay his buy-out clause because Real Madrid are great not just because of our achievements but also because of our control and authority."

“And for Cristiano Ronaldo, it was obvious that we wanted to sign him but Manchester United opposed strongly to his sale,” Mijatovic detailed.

Finally, the Montenegrin reiterated that there is no tension between the coach, Bernd Schuster and himself.

“My relation with Schuster is excellent. We are both top people in charge of our own duties and we speak daily about everything that’s on our agenda,” he assured.

Robinho told Ramón Calderón that he would rather become a travelling salesman than continue to play for Real Madrid in a bid to force through a transfer, according to the player's agent. The Brazilian's unhappiness at the Bernabéu was no secret, yet it was expected that after pushing through his departure, which ended in a surprising switch to Manchester City, that things would go quiet. But Vagner Ribeiro has continued revealing things by stating that Robinho told Caldéron clearly that he had no intention of staying and that was the start of the whole saga. "The key was the meeting with the president. Caldéron told Robinho that he would not leave the club under any circumstances," he told Joven Pan. " Robinho replied by telling him 'I do not want to stay, I would prefer to become a travelling salesman than remain here." "From then on, and with all the rumours and reports created by the press, everyone turned against him." On the subject of rumours, he continued, "It was put about that Robinho was going to be a Chelsea player, so we celebrated that. When the press asked us about Manchester City, I said it wasn't happening." "But at 10:45 in the evening they asked if he was going to City, and I said that he'd be going anywhere except Real Madrid. So Chelsea's Peter Kenyon was frantically calling me desperately trying to figure out what was going on." "By that point, though, I knew that Chelsea and Real Madrid would never agree on a fee greater than €40million, so I gave permission to City to proceed." There have been claims and counter-claims from both sides about why Robinho did not sign a new contract and the way that he was treated and Ribeiro could not stay quiet. Robinho has yet to train with his new team-mates in England after signing only hours before being due in Brazil for the World Cup qualifiers.

Reports mentioned that Real madrid are interested in germen striker Podolski. ''MARCA'' mentioned on saturday that Bernd schuster is pist off,and asking for a new forward in the winter.

Lukas is unsetteled in Munich,and he`s looking for a new club.Podolski was voted the best young player in the latest world cup in germany (2006).

Podolski was aiming a regular spot in the Bayern squad,but he isnt in Klinsman tactics.Lukas (23) was a key for germany back in 06 under coach Klinsman.

Koln FC. the new promoted club is hunting the young german too.