Materazzi signs Inter contract extension

World Cup winning centre-back Marco Materazzi on Wednesday signed a new deal with Inter Milan that will keep him at the Italian champions for another three years, the club announced on their website.

Materazzi, who was a bit-part player for Jose Mourinho last season, will be almost 39 by the time his deal runs out.

“Now I can write it because it’s written on a contract, I’ll be nerazzurro for life,” added Materazzi on his blog.

“And that’s not just a figure of speech. I couldn’t be going away on holiday more satisfied.”

The 35-year-old has already been at the club for eight years, playing 245 matches and scoring 20 goals.

He has won four scudetto crowns and two Italian Cups since joining from Perugia in 2001.

He spent the early part of his career in the Italian lower leagues before getting his big break in 1998 when he joined English Premier League club Everton.

He spent only one season in England – where he failed to distinguish himself and was redcarded on several occasions – before returning to Perugia and two years later he signed for Inter for 10 million euros.

He is probably best known for being the victim of a Zinedine Zidane head-butt in the World Cup final in Berlin three years ago – in which he also conceded the penalty that France scored from but then redeemed himself by scoring the equaliser – in what was the French star’s last match of his career.