Sydney FC have pulled off a massive coup for the A-League with reports from Italian news media confirming soccer legend Alessandro Del Piero has signed for the club.
The ANSA news agency and Sky Italia say the former Italy forward signed a contract with Sydney on Wednesday morning in Turin.
It followed face-to-face negotiations in Italy with Sydney officials over the past three days.
The 37-year-old striker is expected to hold a press conference at 1.30pm (9.30pm AEST) in Turin.
The World Cup winner will reportedly join Sydney on a one-year deal worth $2 million dollars.
It will mark the highest-profile signing in the competition's eight-year history.
The Sky Blues had to fend off interest from several big-name European clubs including Premier League sides Liverpool and Southampton, Scottish champions Celtic, Sporting Braga of Portugal and Swiss side FC Sion.
While Sydney had been confident since opening negotiations last week, their hopes appeared to take a hit after a second day of talks between Sydney FC chief executive Tony Pignata and the player's representatives in Turin failed to reach a resolution on Tuesday.
However Pignata maintained a deal was close and Sydney were able to get their man.
Sydney FC announced last week Del Piero had "agreed to finalise details on a contract" only to be forced into a U-turn after a denial by Del Piero's camp.
The 37-year-old Del Piero's 19-year career with Juventus ended last season when he was not offered a new deal after they had won their first league title since 2003.
Del Piero began his professional career at Padova, where he played only 14 games before being signed by Juventus in 1993.
He remained with the Turin-based club until 2012 having scored 208 goals in 513 appearances and was a member of the Italy side that beat France on penalties in the 2006 World Cup final.more read here http://bigpondnews.com/articles/Sport/2012/09/05/Sydney_FC_sign_Italys_Del_Piero_791892.html?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed
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