Sydney FC's search for a central defender is close to an end with Socceroo Sasa Ognenovski set to join the harbour city club.

Just days after losing out to Central Coast Mariners in the race for defender Eddy Bosnar, Sydney FC are hoping to conclude a deal for the veteran Socceroos defender in the coming days. The towering 34-year-old has been searching for a new team for the past month after parting ways with Qatari club Umm-Salal in early January and is understood to be on the cusp of joining the Sky Blues for the remainder of the season.

Brazil bid: Ognenovski is set to join Sydney FC in an effort to boost his hopes of earning a place in the Socceroos' World Cup squad. Credit:Sebastian Costanzo

The club would not comment on talks with Ognenovski when contacted by Fairfax Media on Monday but a source close to the deal confirmed that Sydney have been in negotiations with the player for a lengthy period of time and suggested that a deal was imminent.

Ognenovski, capped 22 times, is understood to have attracted interest outside of Australia but is set on returning to the A–League in order to boost his chances of being selected in the Socceroos squad for the 2014 World Cup.

A late bloomer, Ognenovski was ignored by former Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek for the 2010 World Cup and did not make his international debut until after the tournament in a friendly against Egypt. He was later crowned 2010 Asian Player of the Year after captaining Korean club Seongnam to an AFC Champions League triumph and went on to play a starring role in Australia's run to the 2011 Asian Cup Final.

Meanwhile, Sydney are also no closer to knowing the future of marquee Alessandro Del Piero despite being reassured that he is not looking to move to cashed-up Thai club PTT Rayong during the Asian transfer period.

The Sky Blues are yet to meet Del Piero and his representatives to discuss his future. ‘‘It’s something we need to do and we know that, and we’ll do that when the time is right,’’ Pignata said.