Baptista during his presentation in Madrid on Monday. (AFP)

Madrid: Brazilian forward Julio Baptista donned the all-white shirt of Real Madrid for the first time on Monday after signing a five-year deal with the club for an initial fee of 20 million euros ($24.20 million).

The 23-year-old international received an enthusiastic welcome from 500 fans at the Santiago Bernabeu after he was presented with the No. 8 by honorary president Alfredo di Stefano.

“This is the happiest day of my life,” said Baptista. “I hope that my time here will be a successful one and that I will help Real Madrid win many trophies.”

Earlier Baptista told the club’s website he was confident his move to the nine-time European champions would help him become a better player.

Real have also signed his international colleague Robinho, but the 21-year-old striker will not join until August 25.

A convoluted transfer saga was finally brought to an end on Saturday when Robinho’s club Santos accepted Real’s $30 million offer for their 60 per cent share of the player’s rights as long as he could make several more appearances for them in the Brazilian championship.

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez said in signing the Brazilian duo, the club was aiming to honour its commitment to entertaining football. “Baptista is a great player and a great person,” he said. “He comes from Brazil, the cradle of the best football in the world.

“For everyone Brazil signifies magic and fantasy in football and that’s why we’ve tried to bring players from there into our team.”