The veteran Italian striker Alberto Gilardino is set to start practising with Montreal Impact on Tuesday as the 35-year-old is hoping to earn a contract with the MLS side.

Montreal Impact confirmed the news that Gilardino is joining the team for a training stint at the club’s Centre Nutrilait facility this week.

The striker is a free agent after leaving Pescara at the end of last season and will now spend a full week training with the Canadian side in order to stay in shape and possibly earn a contract offer.

The Blue-blanc-noir already have Dominic Oduro, Michael Salazar, Matteo Mancosu and Anthony Jackson-Hamel competing for the spot upfront and the former 2006 World Cup winner is facing a daunting challenge of proving himself against the likes of these younger and more energetic players.

Montreal Impact could, however, benefit from Gilardino’s vast experience and his proven goal scoring records which could come in quite handy in Montreal’s attempts to secure a playoff spot.

Impact are currently sitting in 7^th in the Eastern Conference, trailing Atalanta United by three points.

Alberto Gilardino has played for the total of 11 different clubs during his rich career. Most of the clubs he represented are from Italy, while the Italian veteran also had a brief spell with Guangzhou Evergrande in 2014/15 season when he only played 14 matches and scored 5 goals for the Chinese side.

He will be best remembered for his three-year spell at Parma where he scored 50 goals in 96 league matches and his time with Fiorentina from 2008 to 2012 during which time he made 118 Serie A outings and bagged 48 goals.