FLORENCE, ITALY – Former Italy forward Alberto Gilardino is poised to leave Chinese champions Guangzhou Evergrande and rejoin his old club Fiorentina, ANSA said Friday January 23, 2015.
The 32-year-old, a part of Italy’s 2006 World Cup-winning squad, is set to have a medical on Saturday and should start training with his new teammates on Monday.
Gilardino played for Fiorentina from 2008 to 2012. On 25 May 2008, Fiorentina sporting director Pantaleo Corvino confirmed that a deal to sign Gilardino from Milan had been completed. At that times Gilardino moved for €15 million and signed a five-year deal.
His first goal with the Violas arrived in the first leg of the third qualifying round for the 2008–09 UEFA Champions League against Slavia Prague, where he scored the second goal of the match. On 31 August, Gilardino scored on his Serie A debut against Juventus in the 89th minute to tie the game at 1–1.
On 25 April 2009, Gilardino scored a brace in the victory of 4–1 against Roma, and reaches the quota of 100 goals scored in the last 6 years. Gilardino had an exceptional campaign in the Champions League the following season, first scoring a dramatic late goal to give Fiorentina a 2–2 tie at Sporting Lisbon, then against Debrecen, and then scoring in the third minute of stoppage time against Liverpool in the final match day of the group phase at Anfield, which gave Fiorentina a coveted first place finish at the expense of Lyon.
On 6 March 2011 Gilardino scored in the Fiorentina-Catania 3–0 match, which is the 44th goal in Serie A with the shirt of Fiorentina. This leads him to the 10th place among the markers purple and 30 th place in the scorer list of all time.
The former AC Milan striker joined Guangzhou in the summer after stints at Fiorentina, Genoa and Bologna.
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