Montella set for Fulham loan deal

Roma have confirmed that they expect Vincenzo Montella to tie up a six-month loan deal with Fulham later today.

The 32-year-old striker is in the middle of his eighth season at the Eternal City club and was part of the Scudetto-winning squad of 2000-1.

However, Fulham have moved to secure the services of the striker nicknamed ‘il aeroplanino’ (the airplane) in Italy because of his trademark goal celebration.

A spokeswoman for Roma said: “There is nothing official yet but we expect something to happen later today. We will make any announcement via our website.”

Montella’s imminent departure means that now only club skipper Francesco Totti will remain of the starting line-up that won the Scudetto five years ago.

Montella has previously played for Empoli, Genoa and Sampdoria before moving to Roma in 1999.

He scored many crucial goals in the Scudetto-winning season, many as a substitute, after refusing to hand over his cherished number nine jersey to newly-signed Argentinian striker Gabriel Batistuta who had demanded the jersey.

He was part of the Italy squad for the 2002 World Cup but did not feature in Marcello Lippi’s victorious 23-man squad in Germany last year.