The Montreal Impact are close to signing Marco Di Vaio from Bologna of Serie A. The team plans to designate the 35-year-old as its first designated player, for which his contract would not be subjected to salary restrictions. Di Vaio will expectedly join the Impact at the conclusion of Serie A season, and when the international transfer market opens again.
Di Vaio won’t have been the only player to join Montreal from Serie A – the team have Bernardo Corradi and Matteo Ferrari already on the roster.
Ferrari has played for many teams since first joining Inter Milan’s development program in 1999. He was then loaned to Genoa, Lecce and Bari. After returning to Inter for one season, he was again loaned, this time to Parma. After two seasons he was off to Roma, where he helped his club win the Coppa Italia. At the end of 2009, he was pursued by many clubs from Serie A, including powerhouses AC Milan and Juventus, but settled with Genoa. Ferrari played a handful of games for the Italian national team, including contests during the 2000 and 2004 Olympics.
Bernardo Corradi has a similarly well-traveled past. After breaking into Serie A with Cagliari, and a longer spell at Chievo, he played very briefly for Inter Milan before leaving to play for Lazio. Corradi had a successful stay at Lazio, highlighted by scoring in the contest against Juventus to win the Coppa Italia in 2004. Paired with Inzaghi, the two made a fantastic duo. After a transfer to Valencia (where he played with Marco Di Vaio), he joined Manchester City. He returned to Serie A and finished his career there with Reggina and later Udinese. He represented the Italian national team in 13 matches, scoring twice.
Joining these two is Marco Di Vaio from Bologna. Scoring over 140 goals in his Serie A career over 326 games, the Impact are getting a quality player with premium credentials. Di Vaio has played for numerous teams rom Serie A, getting his start with Lazio in 1993. After stops in Verona, Bari and Salernitana, he began a successful run for Parma, and later, Juventus.
Di Vaio scored 41 times in just 83 games for Parma, giving him a goal in every other game. In 2002 he was transferred to football giant Juventus, where he stayed for two seasons. During that spell he appeared in 55 matches, scoring 18 times. Marco kept his pace when he moved on to Valencia in 2004, and in 35 matches tallied eleven goals. Still playing at a very high level, he moved on to Monaco and then Genoa, before settling at Bologna in 2008, where he scored an impressive 24 goals.
Still very serviceable in Serie A, scoring 10 goals this season for Bologna, Marco Di Vaio would give Montreal a very imposing striker. When you take into consideration the other former Serie A players, Montreal instantly becomes a much stronger threat. The Impact sit at 2-5 this season. Adding yet another player with caps at the highest level of competition will only help the team and give another veteran voice to its younger players.
…and that is the last word.
