He's 37, he plays in a position that we certainly don't need to strengthen and he would demand big money. Usually the answer to the question "Do we need this player?" would almost certainly be no.

But this was Allesandro Del Piero.

I am sure even the most hardened realist Saints supporter got a little bit of a tingle at the prospect of such a legend of the modern game coming to St. Mary's.

As widely expected, the Italian actually joined Sydney FC and reportedly became the highest paid player in A-League history, but the fact that we were interested and that Del Piero even entertained the idea of coming to Hampshire is encouraging.

Saints haven't bought a World Cup winner to the club since Alan Ball in 1976 and the Italian would certainly have been the biggest superstar to sign since Keegan.

A lot of people would question whether he could have cope with the demands of the Premier League at his age, but having started 28 games for Juve last season in a Scudetto winning campaign he is hardly on the scrapheap fitness wise, plus Del Piero has never struck me as a player who would allow himself to be rushed anyway. We are talking about genuine "World Class" ability.

Sydney's gain is Southampton's and Liverpool's loss.

Saints named their 25 man Premier League Squad yesterday and there were two spaces spare. Maybe the club hasn't finished bringing people in despite the transfer window being shut.

The free transfer window is still very much open, and perhaps if we reach out far enough we might be able to find a defender out there too...

• Recommend0
• Tweet0
• Email