Former Southampton flop Dani Osvaldo set to leave Porto for Serie A returm

Former Southampton misfit Pablo Daniel Osvaldo is in line to return to Serie A after a permanent move to Boca Juniors collapsed over Christmas.

The 29-year-old Johnny Depp lookalike endured a miserable spell at St Mary's after arriving from Roma for a club-record fee of £12.8m in August 2013.

Despite arriving amid much fanfare, Osvaldo struggled to produce his best form before he was banned for three games and fined £40,000 for his role in an ugly touchline bust-up during a game at Newcastle in the following December.

Things then went from bad to worse for the striker when he was banned for two weeks by the Saints for a training ground fight with club favourite Jose Fonte.

He was quickly shipped out to Juventus on loan before further temporary spells at Inter Milan and then Boca last season.

Southampton terminated his contract this summer, after just 856 minutes of Premier League football.

He joined Porto on a free transfer but has started just two league games during a miserable first four months in Portugal.

The Argentina-born forward had been hoping to seal a permanent return to his homeland and was reportedly willing to take a 50 per cent pay cut to join Boca in January.

However, that move has seemingly fallen through and now reports in Italy - the country he represents at international level - have suggested that a return to Serie A is on the cards.

Osvaldo knows all about Italian football having played for Atalanta, Lecce, Fiorentina, Bologna, Roma, Juventus and Inter already.