Sydney FC are rumoured to have finally signed Juventus legend Alessandro Del Piero following further negotiations on Tuesday.
Various media outlets are reporting that Del Piero and his brother and agent Stefano have already put pen to paper on a $2 million six-month deal.
It is understood that an announcement officially confirming Del Piero’s signature will be made tomorrow at 11am Turin time (7pm AEST).
Negotiations have been ongoing between Sydney FC and the Italian striker since Sky Blues CEO Tony Pignata and player agent Lou Sticca arrived in Turin on Monday, following Sydney’s premature announcement that Del Piero had agreed terms with the club on Friday.
The club quickly withdrew claims of an official agreement, stating only that they would continue negotiations by flying to Italy, but Sydney now seem set to secure Del Piero despite interest from the MLS, FC Sion, Braga, Tottenham and Celtic.
If the reports prove correct, Del Piero is likely to fly to Sydney within the next two weeks to join with the Sydney squad, preparing for their first A-League fixture in a month’s time.
Del Piero, a World Cup winner and former Juventus captain, would become the biggest signing in A-League history, with suggestions that Sydney’s membership base could double if the Italian legend signs.
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- Alessandro Del Piero, football
September 4th 2012 @ 9:27pm
Midfielder said | September 4th 2012 @ 9:27pm | Report comment
Well done SFC … even six months is worth it…
September 4th 2012 @ 9:49pm
MV Dave said | September 4th 2012 @ 9:49pm | Report comment
Be nice to see him holding the SFC top with ‘Del Piero 10′ on the back…will SFC be signing a back of jumper sponsor as they already have front of shirt or will they be able to get some more money from Webjet?
Geez with this sort of world wide publicity it won’t be long before SFC is almost as well known around the world as MVFC!!
September 5th 2012 @ 9:09am
Globetrotter said | September 5th 2012 @ 9:09am | Report comment
the tongue in cheek comment about MVFC is amusing.
i thought Adelaide was the best known club internationally because they won games.
September 5th 2012 @ 9:10am
Kasey said | September 5th 2012 @ 9:10am | Report comment
I don’t underestimate the power of getting your club name and jersey in a globally important medium such as the next World Soccer magazine – the global bible for things going on around the world of football. There are still some people round the world who think football in Australia is a joke of Surfing for England proportions.
This signing will change some global perceptions of this country. Well done SFC!
Its no coincidence that last year all the other clubs recorded their season-high attendances for the visit of the Melbourne Kewells. I hope Sydney FC enjoy playing in front of large crowd on their away trips this season. I can with a high degree of confidence predict that their away game in Adelaide will result in a sell out. In the crowd that night will be a lot of black& white stripes and a fair dose of Italian Azzurri
Any Adelaide City(aka Adelaide Juventus) fans who have decided not to jump on with the Reds and perhaps resent the rise to prominence of AUFC will likely jump at the opportunity to cheer on an idol like ADP and cheer against AUFC.
September 5th 2012 @ 9:22am
Bondy. said | September 5th 2012 @ 9:22am | Report comment
Kasey.
He may get Sydney F.C. into Asia next year,I wonder if Ale thought of that .
September 5th 2012 @ 9:20am
Ian said | September 5th 2012 @ 9:20am | Report comment
are the Victory known overseas? i thought Adelaide were.
September 5th 2012 @ 9:40am
Kasey said | September 5th 2012 @ 9:40am | Report comment
It would be an interesting thing to determine..which HAL club has the higher international profile? In the UK, I reckon MVC would be pretty high.
Every weekend last season on Soccer AM (a popular football show in the UK) ran a segment titled ”Help, I’m an A-League celebrity – Get me out of here!) in which they briefly showed the highlights of Harry Kewell’s MVC game the preceeding week. while making childish stereotypical jokes about Australia.
On the other hand Adelaide United had a significant run in the ACL in 2008 and are doing well again this year.
Sydney FC will get a huge amount of attention from signing ADP. IIRC #SydneyFC was trending globally when news of ADP signing first appeared.
September 5th 2012 @ 10:36am
Bondy. said | September 5th 2012 @ 10:36am | Report comment
Krickey, dead dingo’s cobber. Struth. When’s that show coming back mate ? Away days
September 5th 2012 @ 10:50am
Kasey said | September 5th 2012 @ 10:50am | Report comment
I heard a rumour it isn’t being shown on Fox Sports anymore…Always had a laugh at Pat McGroin’s News segment, found Frankie “time to keep ya nut down!Fryer travel segment kind of interesting sad if its not being shown anymore:(
Probably something to do wth Fox losing the rights to the Football League?
September 5th 2012 @ 10:58am
Bondy. said | September 5th 2012 @ 10:58am | Report comment
Why do I keep seeing or hearing football being pulled now no soccer am, it was great ,and no spanish football on espn whats left theres nothing espn have that I want, another waisted channel now in my eye.
September 5th 2012 @ 10:47am
Brick Tamlin of the Pants Party said | September 5th 2012 @ 10:47am | Report comment
Would Kewells move to MV be bigger news worldwide than Fowlers move to Glory?,Glory highlights were on Soccer Am as well.Adelaide United would be well known throughout Asia,a massive market.
September 5th 2012 @ 9:44pm
cjones said | September 5th 2012 @ 9:44pm | Report comment
Kasey. they were funny though.
September 6th 2012 @ 4:13pm
mahony said | September 6th 2012 @ 4:13pm | Report comment
A recently released football brand analysis has only one Australian club in the top 100 – Melbourne Victory. As of today – there will be two!
September 4th 2012 @ 9:55pm
Daniel said | September 4th 2012 @ 9:55pm | Report comment
SBS have jumped the gun and are reporting it as a done deal
September 4th 2012 @ 10:03pm
MV Dave said | September 4th 2012 @ 10:03pm | Report comment
Hopefully Foxsports will do a live broadcast of the announcement from Italy…will be a first for Oz TV…might get a pretty decent audience at 7pm if well publicized.
September 5th 2012 @ 5:35pm
MV Dave said | September 5th 2012 @ 5:35pm | Report comment
A poster on the 442 forum has said Foxsports to run the announcement live at 9pm…anyone else hear that?
Edit. Just read a Fuss post below which confirmed the Foxsports News Broadcast at 9pm.
September 4th 2012 @ 10:46pm
Peter Wilson said | September 4th 2012 @ 10:46pm | Report comment
The Australian is running with it now too.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/football/alessandro-del-piero-joins-sydney-fc-in-a-league-coup/story-fn63e0vj-1226465008476
It should be made officiial 7PM tomorrow, 11AM Turin time.
I bloody well hope so or Clive Palmer and Football Australia will start an investigation.
September 4th 2012 @ 10:51pm
Sports Candy said | September 4th 2012 @ 10:51pm | Report comment
Tom Smithies from the Daily Telegrah will be heading out to the airport to greet DP when he arrives in Australia, with a few firecrackers in his pocket, 5 photographers and 50 riot police with batons and capsicum spray.
September 4th 2012 @ 11:05pm
Midfielder said | September 4th 2012 @ 11:05pm | Report comment
Sports Candy
Post of the week … pissed myself LOL
September 5th 2012 @ 12:28am
Minister for Information for the Democratic People's Republic of Football said | September 5th 2012 @ 12:28am | Report comment
Nice…
September 5th 2012 @ 6:08am
Bondy. said | September 5th 2012 @ 6:08am | Report comment
Candy.
Dont forget the dog squad.
September 5th 2012 @ 8:55am
Kasey said | September 5th 2012 @ 8:55am | Report comment
I thought the canines were Big Al’s specialty?
September 5th 2012 @ 10:12am
MV Dave said | September 5th 2012 @ 10:12am | Report comment
That’s a bit ruff…
September 5th 2012 @ 11:12am
Punter said | September 5th 2012 @ 11:12am | Report comment
Now, now Kasey!!!!
September 5th 2012 @ 9:33am
Kasey said | September 5th 2012 @ 9:33am | Report comment
Last year MVC fans greeted HK at the airport, I wonder if the notoriously fickle Sydney crowd will do the same when ADP arrives?
September 5th 2012 @ 9:57am
Brick Tamlin of the Pants Party said | September 5th 2012 @ 9:57am | Report comment
All jokes aside,there probably will be heaps of police there sadly.
September 5th 2012 @ 10:06am
Kasey said | September 5th 2012 @ 10:06am | Report comment
Airport security is no joking matter Brick:) Haven’t you seen the posters?
September 5th 2012 @ 2:41pm
Peter Wilson said | September 5th 2012 @ 2:41pm | Report comment
To keep the girls off him, and me . . .
September 4th 2012 @ 10:27pm
Midfielder said | September 4th 2012 @ 10:27pm | Report comment
Might invite him out for a surf up the coast … or he could join me on my skip [for those that don't know a very small sailing boat with one sail... its great fun to use kinda like a big surf board with a sail and rudder]…
September 4th 2012 @ 10:28pm
Sports Candy said | September 4th 2012 @ 10:28pm | Report comment
Sydney FC nearly blew it.
DP’s agent wasn’t too impressed when SFC chairman Scott Barlow announced to the world last Friday that he had signed DP, when negotiations hadn’t even been finalised.
Fortunately DP is a man of his word and can be trusted as can be seen by his faithfulness to Juventus sticking with them for 19 years.
Congratulations also to DP for taking the SFC offer of 2M when he was offered 8M to go to Sion in Switzerland. Shows he is not just interested in money and growing his retirement fund but is genuine about helping football to grow in Oz and leaving a legacy around the world to inspire others.
Hopefully some young Australian will watch him play and be inspired by what he has done and dare to dream to follow in his footsteps.
September 4th 2012 @ 10:40pm
ItsCalledFootball said | September 4th 2012 @ 10:40pm | Report comment
You little Italian beauty!.
You are a legend and can’t wait till you put on the Sydney FC shirt and kick a ball around the training park with the sky blue lads.
My SFC membership is worth every cent.
On another blog they are saying that Hyundai, Fox and a couple of benevolent Sydney millionaires will chip in with the money and SFC will hardly have to pay anything for him.
And billionaire Russian owner David Traktovenko was prepared to pay him whatever he wanted to come to Sydney anyway.
Look forward to the announcement and world-wide press conference around 7PM tomorrow on Fox Sports.
This will be even bigger world news than Folau signing for the Giants.
September 5th 2012 @ 12:45am
Davo said | September 5th 2012 @ 12:45am | Report comment
folau signing for the giants was not world news… nobody outside australia cared whatsoever
September 5th 2012 @ 8:35am
Minister for Information for the Democratic People's Republic of Football said | September 5th 2012 @ 8:35am | Report comment
Errr…I think the tongue was firmly in cheek by ICF Davo.
September 5th 2012 @ 8:56am
Kasey said | September 5th 2012 @ 8:56am | Report comment
I’d like to congratulate Sydney FC on confirming such a special signing. A dual international in their career prime is a huge coup for the club and should result in an amazing lift in publicity for the Sky Blues.
I’m still not convinced it will have the desired impact on crowd numbers though?
Oh and some famous Italian bloke is close to signing…well done Sydney FC, hope you’ve tied Tony Pignata down to a decent length contract he seems on the ball – unusually so for a SFC CEO:)
http://www.smh.com.au/sport/football/ellyse-perry-joins-sydney-fc-20120904-25bnj.html
September 5th 2012 @ 9:41am
Minister for Information for the Democratic People's Republic of Football said | September 5th 2012 @ 9:41am | Report comment
I know for a fact there will be a hell of a lot Italian-Australians turning up just for him who maybe don’t really give a stuff about SFC but maybe they’ll come around to us and start loving the club as well.
September 5th 2012 @ 10:25am
Brick Tamlin of the Pants Party said | September 5th 2012 @ 10:25am | Report comment
I think theres still alot of people who were turned off beacause the first couple of seasons were so rubbish.I was in the UK for seasons 1 and 2 but by all accounts it was almost unwatchable.Since i’ve been home year by year the league has improved and now the football is very entertaining,so yeah hopefully the people who haven’t bothered with it will wake up and see that there is good football on offer.
September 4th 2012 @ 11:13pm
Sports Candy said | September 4th 2012 @ 11:13pm | Report comment
Sydney memberships increased strongly this week on the rumours alone.
Once DP’s signing is confirmed they will continue to grow which is more good news for Sydney FC.
September 4th 2012 @ 11:22pm
MV Dave said | September 4th 2012 @ 11:22pm | Report comment
He will be the highest paid footballer, of any code, in Oz…not too shabby for little ol 2nd rate Sokkah comp here. My how the times are a changin…bring on HAL 8 we’re ready to rumble!
September 5th 2012 @ 12:30am
Minister for Information for the Democratic People's Republic of Football said | September 5th 2012 @ 12:30am | Report comment
YES!!! COME ON SYDNEY, COME ON SYDNEY…. this is very farking huge! Still can’t believe it…
September 5th 2012 @ 1:07am
beamz said | September 5th 2012 @ 1:07am | Report comment
@vic.. not many people in australia care about del piero signing as well, hasnt even been mentioned on the news and it has a tiny spot in the newspaper
September 5th 2012 @ 2:06am
Fussball ist unser leben said | September 5th 2012 @ 2:06am | Report comment
@beamz
I guess, some people do care … you’re here at 1:00 a.m. wanting to engage in discussion about Ale Del Piero. So, the marketing is already working.
Please keep coming back to tell us how little people care.
September 5th 2012 @ 9:31am
Ian said | September 5th 2012 @ 9:31am | Report comment
thanks for commenting at 1.00am on something you don’t care about. keep believing no one likes ‘soccer’ either
September 5th 2012 @ 2:25pm
Kasey said | September 5th 2012 @ 2:25pm | Report comment
I used to wonder if there was a person specifically employed by NewsLtd to insert into the online comments of every football story the comment:
“who cares its only soccer.” signed Dazz of random suburb.
I’ve notice it doesn’t happen quite so much now that we’ve had 6 of 7 seasons withf 1 million plus attendances ( not even including finals) its quite obvious that despite the fact that HAL football is not and never likely will be as good as EPL football that there exists a sizeable market in Australia and NZ for a strong domestic football competition. If del Piero helps get a few bodies thru the door who haven’t watched a HAL game since season 1-3 then this move by SFC will be considered a success by me at least and I hope a few stick around to enjoy the vastly improved standard of play.
September 5th 2012 @ 10:01am
Brick Tamlin of the Pants Party said | September 5th 2012 @ 10:01am | Report comment
Thats twice now you’ve posted pretty much the same thing,its gotten your attention obviously.
September 5th 2012 @ 10:40am
Titus said | September 5th 2012 @ 10:40am | Report comment
Beamz…..go and check out the SFC facebook page, we are getting love from all over Italy. You can reject us if you like but it doesn’t worry me, I am part of a global family.
David Traktovenko, thankyou for putting my team and my game where it belongs, on the world stage. I will be there to support your vision with everything I have.
September 5th 2012 @ 11:21am
Damiano said | September 5th 2012 @ 11:21am | Report comment
Couldn’t sleep Beamz? There’s probably 400 posts about this signing on the Roar, but you are right of course, no one has ever heard of him.
September 5th 2012 @ 4:28am
Ben said | September 5th 2012 @ 4:28am | Report comment
I must say, you really shouldn’t claim victory until after he’d signed the contract with SFC.
He’s going to Liverpool FC
Sorry
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September 5th 2012 @ 6:26am
Bondy. said | September 5th 2012 @ 6:26am | Report comment
Ben.
Who’s worrying about being victorius you mention claiming a victory who over?.
September 5th 2012 @ 9:27am
Punter said | September 5th 2012 @ 9:27am | Report comment
Haha, now, now Kasey!!!
September 5th 2012 @ 9:29am
Punter said | September 5th 2012 @ 9:29am | Report comment
A quote from my mate a Liverpool & Sydney FC fan.
“funny just being travelling in on the ferry listening to talk sport radio UK and the main topic has been whether del Piero will sign for Sydney or Liverpool.
Funny to hear Sydney FC being talked about on Uk radio.
Shows how High Sydney are aiming and how bad LFC’s striker situation is!
Come on Sydney !”