AC Milan legend Alessandro Nesta will join Indian Super League (ISL) side Chennaiyin FC.
Nesta, 38, is due to play a legends match in Bangkok on Dec. 5 but will then link up with Marco Materazzi's table-topping team for the remaining month of the campaign.
Chennaiyin were hit with the news that Colombian striker John Stiven Mendoza has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a hamstring injury and have drafted in the veteran defender as a replacement in the squad.
Materazzi told a news conference on Wednesday: "Yes we have just signed him. He will replace Mendoza. I don't know yet when he will come as he now needs visa.
"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."
Nesta announced his retirement in October 2013 after two seasons with MLS side Montreal Impact. The defender made 78 international appearances and was part of the Italian 2006 World Cup winning squad, while he also played for AC Milan between 2002 and 2012 after starting his career at Lazio in 1993.