THE Wellington Phoenix’s search for a marquee continues after the club proved unsuccessful in their pursuit of Italian international Giuseppe Rossi.

Fox Football Executive Producer Murray Shaw exclusively revealed the news on new podcast ‘FootBald’ this week.

PODCAST: Murray Shaw, Brenton Speed and Andy Harper re-live the FFA Cup Final and Craig Goodwin’s wonderous strikes, they reveal the player that stood out to them this week, look at finals fixturing and much more.

“I can tell you that they ended, unfortunately, they got deep in discussion with bringing Giuseppe Rossi – the 31-year-old former Italian national team striker down to New Zealand as their marquee for this season,” Shaw said as he was joined by commentators Andy Harper and Brenton Speed.

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“32 goals in 52 games for Villarreal back in 2010-11, he was at Manchester United and I think Newcastle United early in his career. But unfortunately just got slightly priced out of being a marquee for them, probably due to the fact that the FFA didn’t see him as an A class marquee and therefore the Wellington Phoenix didn’t quite have enough money to be able to match what they would have got out of the FFA.

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Giuseppe Rossi used to ply his trade at Fiorentina Source: Getty Images

“But what we do know out of all of that, is that the Wellington Phoenix are very much on the lookout for a marquee and things are going well at the Nix under Mark Rudan at this early part of the season.”

Rossi played 30 times for Italy between 2008 and 2014, scoring seven times in the process. He has also spent time at Manchester United, Newcastle, Villarreal and Fiorentina in his club 14-year professional career.

The Nix currently sit fourth on the A-League ladder after a win and a draw to kick off their season.

Join Fox Football’s hairless wonders Shaw, Harper and Speed every Wednesday as they dissect the week’s football action.