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Alessandro Nesta has joined the ISL setup by signing for league leaders Chennaiyin FC as confirmed by the tournament’s official website. The legendary Italian defender joins the list of superstars that includes David James, Del Piero, David Trezeguet, Luis Garcia and others who are part of the inaugural season of the Hero Indian Super League.
Third world cup winning Italian in ISL
The signing happened after the Chennai based club lost in-form Columbian striker John Mendoza who injured his hamstring in the ninth round match against FC Pune city. The striker was ruled out of the competition after a scan was done and the club urged the organisers to grant them to sign a replacement before the stipulated 10th round of the tournament.
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“Yes, we have just signed him (Nesta). He will replace (John) Mendoza. I don't know yet when he will come as he now needs visa,” Marco Materazzi, the Italian manager of the southern team revealed during in a pre-match press conference on the eve of their clash against NorthEast United.
The 38-year-old is scheduled to becomes the third footballer of Italy’s 2006 World Cup triumph to take part in the tournament after Chennaiyin FC player-coach Marco Materazzi and Delhi Dynamos marquee player Alessandro Del Piero.
The club announced the arrival of their newest signing on Twitter.
Chennaiyin had better attackers so they went for a world class defender
The stylish centre back has played for AC Milan and Lazio and also for a short while represented MLS side Montreal Impact. The Italian and AC Milan legend will come out of retirement to take part in the inaugural football league.
"We have plenty of options in attack - Jeje, Balwant, Maurice, Bruno and Elano of course. If we had found any better attackers than what we have at the moment, we would have gone for a forward. So since we got a world class defender (in Nesta), we signed him," Materazzi further explained his reason to bring in Nesta to Chennaiyin FC.
The Abhisekh Bachchan and MS Dhoni-owned team are currently leading the charts with 19 points from the 10 games played so far. Nesta is scheduled to join ISL after he participates in the Global Legends Series in Bangkok on December 5, after which he will join his new team.
