Maradona returns! 53-year-old former World Cup winner set to sign for Argentine fifth tier minnows Deportivo Riestra



Football legend Diego Maradona is set to make a remarkable return to action.

The former World Cup winning captain, 53, looks set to sign for minnows Deportivo Riestra who play in Argentina's regionalised fifth tier.

Maradona, who last played in 1998, is expected to be such a draw when he makes his debut on March 23 that the club are planning to abandon their 3,000 capacity stadium in favour of the 43,494 Estadio Pedro Bidegain, home to Primera Division champions San Lorenzo.

Sensational: Diego Maradona is set to make a remarkable return to playing

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Maradona has been convinced to sign for the Buenos Aries club by Victor Stinfale, the financier of the minnows and Maradona's friend and legal representative.

The former Argentina national team boss was briefly appointed 'Spiritual Coach' of the club last August, and reports in his country state that Maradona simply replied: 'I want to play' when asked to become the side's manager.

Official paperwork has been filed to the Argentine FA, and club insiders revealed to sports newspaper Olé that things are expected to go through smoothly.

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'Within five game weeks, Maradona will be playing for Riestra,' revealed their source. 'He will debut on approximately the 23rd of March.'

Maradona is likely to take up his famous No 10 shirt, with current incumbent Victor More saying: 'I'll wear whatever'.

He last week got engaged to his 23-year-old lover Rocio Oliva, despite being told by his ex, Veronica Ojeda, that she is carrying his sixth child.