French ace Gallas set to join Glory
Perth Glory are on the verge of signing French defender William Gallas as an international marquee player in what would be another major boost for the club and the A-League.
The West Australian understands talks between the two parties were at an advanced stage last night and an official announcement could be made today.
Gallas, 36, is a free agent after being released by English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur at the end of last season.
He was linked to Manchester City and Crystal Palace last month and was also reported to be considering a move to the A-League with Melbourne Victory.
If a deal is agreed, Gallas will become one of the club's biggest signings, alongside Liverpool great Robbie Fowler, who played one season in Perth in 2010-11.
Gallas has spent more than a decade at top English Premier League clubs Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham, where he played 24 matches as vice-captain last season.
He won two Premier League titles with Chelsea and played at two World Cups during an international career that included 84 games for France.
His arrival would be another big win for the A-League, which has enjoyed a dramatic rise in popularity since the arrival of international stars Alessandro Del Piero, Emile Heskey and Shinji Ono last year.
Gallas would also be expected to lift Glory's membership figure, which is already tracking better at this stage of the season than in recent years.
Gallas' likely signing is positive news for Glory ahead of their opening home fixture against Melbourne Heart at nib Stadium on Sunday.
A bumper crowd is expected to attend after the club, in conjunction with Football West, donated 5000 tickets to the local soccer community.
However, Glory will be without young defender Josh Risdon, who is expected to miss the next two months with a knee injury.
Risdon was injured in the opening minutes of last week's draw away to Newcastle Jets.
Initial scans cleared him of damage to the anterior cruciate ligament, but he will have further scans to determine the full extent of the injury today.
Glory coach Alistair Edwards said Risdon's injury was a blow for the club and player, who featured in the A-League All-Stars team which played Manchester United in July.
"Josh is one of the most exciting and talented players in the country, our Mr Consistent and one of the first guys on our team sheet every week," Edwards said.
"We'll see how things pan out during the week but it's just bad timing because he was going from strength to strength.
"He played against Manchester United and he was probably knocking on the door for Socceroos contention.
"But the surgeons nowadays are magicians and we've got a really good physio department, so he'll be back.
"The positive is that it wasn't an ACL, which would've been the season."
Former Sorrento junior Jack Clisby is the favourite to replace Risdon at right-back this week, while teenager Matt Davies will also be in contention.
