Juventus' Alessandro Del Piero waves to supporters after their Italian Cup final soccer match against Napoli at the Olympic stadium in Rome, May 20, 2012.MAX ROSSI/Reuters
Sometimes there's smoke, but no fire - the Montreal Impact says there's no substance to talk from Italy that Juventus striker Alessandro Del Piero will soon bring his shooting boots to Saputo Stadium.
The 37-year-old Del Piero's contract with the Old Lady expires this summer, a senior official with the MLS club said in an interview that the Impact hasn't had any discussions with Del Piero since August of last year - other than a recent email from his agent inquiring as to whether they might be interested in retaining the player's services.
The Gazzetta dello Sport, Italy's pre-eminent sports newspaper, reported Friday that the former Italian international, who is Juve's all-time leading goal-scorer, was holidaying in Florida at a house owned by Impact president Joey Saputo and was poised to sign a deal with the Impact.
But Saputo was in Montreal giving journalists a tour of his newly-expanded 23,000-seat stadium, which is slated to open in two weeks, and shrugged off the rumours.
"There is no interest on our part," Saputo told a throng of reporters.
This week, the Impact unveiled former Bologna forward Marco Di Vaio as the team's first designated player; rumours that fellow Serie A and English Premier League veteran Bernardo Corradi might be leaving the club to make room for another forward, possibly Del Piero, were dealt a severe blow when he turned up for training on Friday.