10 things you need to know about West Ham target Luca Toni

Published 11:58 25/09/09

Gianfranco Zola has stepped up his attempts to sign target-man Luca Toni , following goal-shy West Ham's Carling Cup defeat to Bolton in midweek.

But what do we know about the 32-year-old Italian who could be soon on his way to Upton Park? MirrorFootball presents the essential guide...

10. The 6ft 5in striker's full-name is Luca Toni Varchetta Della Cave and he was born in Pavullo nel Frignano, a town in the northern city of Modena. He is engaged to his longtime girlfriend and Italian model Marta Cecchetto ( who is one hot stunner by the way ).

9. He has played for a whopping 10 clubs over his career, including Palermo and Fiorentina. He has never made over 100 appearances for one club, so don't expect him to stick around for long in east London.

8. His career really took off with his spell at Palermo. He fired 30 goals in the 2003-04 season to help the club back to Serie A after a 30-year absence. That fine form saw Fiorentina splash out €10m for his services, with whom he again continued his impressive scoring record, hitting 31 goals in his first season in Florence. This made him one of the most prolific goal-scorers of all time in Serie A, only four goals behind the league record.

7. Toni has 47 caps for Italy, scoring 16 goals in the process. He was unlucky not to score in the 2006 World Cup final against France after he hit the bar with a powerful header and had a goal disallowed for offside. But it wouldn't matter as Toni would still get his hands on a World Cup winners medal after Italy won on penalties.

6. Toni left Fiorentina for Munich for €11m in 2007 after the Italian club had been penalised with a 19-point deduction and relegated to Serie B due to their involvement in a betting scandal. Toni enjoyed an impressive debut season in Germany, finishing top goal-scorer in the Bundesliga with 24 goals, and scoring 39 in all competitions.

5. Toni is on the growing list of footballers that have their own flashy website, as you can see here .

4. Luca has his very own trademark celebration too - when he scores he always celebrates by stretching his fingers and waving his hand next to his right ear, then closing the same hand and punching it in the air! Apparently it means to 'turn the volume up in the crowd'. Make up your mind here .

3. The Italian was also connected with rivals Tottenham over the summer, but after the arrival of Crouch it's highly unlikely he will be in Redknapp's plans again in the near future.

2. The veteran striker has recently been splashed all over the German papers for allegedly cheating on his girlfriend with fellow model Sandy Meyer Woelden, an ex flame of Boris Becker. Sandy and Luca were reported to have shared a romantic dinner together before departing to a hotel nearby afterwards. That may be one reason why he's keen to leave Germany.

1. Earlier this year a German computer hacker managed to log-in to the Borussia Dortmund web-site and post a fake news story reporting Toni had moved from Munich to Dortmund - much to the surprise of Dortmand, Munich and Toni!

Do you think Zola's Italian connection will help capture Toni? Is it a risk signing a 32-year-old who has already played for 10 clubs? Sign in and leave your comments below...

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