(reuters) French international defender Jean-Alain Boumsong has joined Juventus from Newcastle United for 4.8 million Euros (AUS$8.07 million), the English Premier League club said.

Boumsong joined Newcastle from Rangers in January 2005 and although he made 59 appearances he struggled to impress fans.

The 26-year-old has 20 caps and was in the French World Cup squad in Germany but did not see any action.

He has signed a four-year contract and Newcastle could be in for further payments depending on performance-related bonuses.

It was a rare purchase by Juve, who have spent much of the close season selling their best players following their demotion to Serie B for their role in the Italian match-fixing scandal.

In other Serie B news, Frosinone have signed Napoli's Luca Lacrimini. The arrival of Sam Dalla Bona leaves few opportunities in Napoli's midfield and Lacrimini was already a fringe squad member. Napoli have also let go of back up attacker Giglio who signed for Gallipoli.

Other Serie B movements include :

Coppola (gk) - Milan to Piacenza

T.Manfredini (m) - Atalanta to Bologna

E.Filippini (m) - Treviso to Bologna

Cerci (a) - Roma to Brescia