Del Piero not Al Nasr bound, club says

Dubai Italian press reports linking free agent Alessandro Del Piero to Al Nasr have been rubbished by the club.

Reports in Italy suggested on Sunday that Al Nasr coach Walter Zenga was set to prize the former Juventus forward from the grasps of Brazil’s Flamengo, where the 37-year-old is set to replace Ronaldinho.

But Al Nasr member Abdullah Al Bannai told Gulf News: “This is untrue. There are no negotiations with the player.”

He added: “We are looking at a number of options, but we still have to sit with the coach to decide. Del Piero is not among those names.”

First-team manager Khalid Obaid added: “If an agent has spoken to the coach on this, the coach has yet to discuss it internally. I think this is false information.”

Italian and Brazilian newswires had suggested Del Piero would replace the outgoing Luca Toni at the end of this month, snubbing offers from the likes of River Plate and New York Red Bulls.

Al Nasr, who finished second last season, have also been linked with Palermo’s Fabrizio Miccoli, Everton’s Tim Cahill and Pachucca’s Jaime Ayovi.