Sydney plans big Del Piero arrival

Pignata returned to Sydney on Saturday after trumping several other clubs around the world by signing the Italian ace to a two-year contract.

"The easy job was actually signing him, now it's the organising and getting ready for him to arrive," Pignata said before Sydney's 1-1 draw with A-League rival Newcastle Jets in a pre-season fixture at Leichhardt Oval on Sunday.

"I think it will just be in the first few weeks, training there might be a few issues, maybe a few more journalists and media and fans watching, the airport arrival.

"We want to make sure it's done properly. He's not a man that wants a lot of attention - he's first and foremost a footballer, and that's what he wants to do.

"This is part of it for fans and everyone involved in the game, so I'm not going to sneak him through a back door (at the airport) and he's comfortable with that.

"We're going to make it as open as possible."

Pignata was predicting Sydney would break even on the Del Piero deal which is worth around $2 million a year to the Italian superstar.

Even before setting foot in Australia, the former Juventus striker is paying his way.

The club sold around 1,500 memberships last week after the signing was announced and has already reached its revenue target in that area for the coming season.

Pignata revealed Del Piero was drawing support from well beyond Sydney's boundaries.

"We've had some Melbourne fans buy full memberships, which is just amazing. We've had the Juve supporters of Adelaide want to come down to as many home games as possible," Pignata said.

"We've got a lot of corporate inquiries."

Pignata said the club still had to secure a back of shirt sponsor and revealed around 300,000 shirts worldwide with Del Piero's name were sold last year.

"I honestly expect to see a lot of Sydney FC shirts around Turin walking around with No.10 on the back for sure," Pignata said.

He hoped Del Piero would arrive in a few weeks and could play in Sydney's final trial against Newcastle on 22 September.