The midfield playmaker has thrashed out personal terms with the Serie A outfit and will undergo a medical before signing and being unveiled by Lazio on Friday.

"Gaizka Mendieta has reached an agreement with Lazio," Lazio's official website announced.

"On Thursday the Basque midfielder will be in Rome to sign his contract with the club."

Mendieta, 27, was believed to favour a move to Real Madrid but Valencia were determined not to let him go to a rival Spanish team.

Real would have had to buy-out Mendieta's contract at a cost of �37m to land the Spanish international.

The Bernabeu club's president Florentino Perez said Real were not prepared to do that, especially after signing Zinedine Zidane for �46.5m.

Valencia also rejected an offer from AC Milan for Mendieta who is expected to earn �3m-a-year while at Lazio.

Mendieta will also be sixth in the list of the world's biggest transfers behind Zidane, Luis Figo, Hernan Crespo, Christian Vieri and Gianluigi Buffon.