Nocerino swaps Milan for Orlando

Orlando City have signed Italian midfielder Antonio Nocerino from AC Milan.

Nocerino’s move to MLS was confirmed on Thursday, with Orlando City to send an undisclosed amount of targeted allocation money and general allocation money to DC United, who held a discovery claim on the 30-year-old.

Out of favour at San Siro – following just two Serie A appearances this term having spent the majority of the past two seasons on loan at West Ham, Torino and Parma – Nocerino will now link up with former Milan midfielder Kaka in Orlando.

“Nocerino is an energetic and hard-working box-to-box midfielder that can provide an immediate impact within the squad,” said coach Adrian Heath.

“He has a tremendous amount of experience playing at the highest level and his ability to play numerous roles in the midfield will be an incredible asset for us this season. We’re looking forward to working with him.”

Nocerino – a 15-time Italy international – arrives as Orlando City look to reach the play-offs for the first time, having missed out by just five points in their inaugural season.

Orlando founder and president Phil Rawlins added: “Antonio is a player that we really admire, who can be effective in a number of different positions, which gives us great depth.

“His vast experience in the Serie A will be invaluable for our team as we aim to make the MLS play-offs in 2016.”