Bradford City are celebrating the news that Italian striker Benito Carbone has signed for the club after a marathon night of talks in Italy.

The signing followed a second round of discussions in Milan early today after the deal appeared to have broken down last night.

Now fans are being urged to turn out at the club tonight and give the star a hero's welcome when he arrives at Valley Parade.

Chairman Geoffrey Richmond, Managing Director Shaun Harvey and manager Chris Hutchings were travelling back to Bradford with the player this afternoon.

The 28-year-old former Sheffield Wednesday and Aston Villa star will be unveiled at Valley Parade's Bantams Bar at 5pm when the club holds a press conference to which fans are invited.

Richmond revealed today that he was preparing to fly home from Italy when he received a 4am call from the player's agent Giovanni Branchini asking for renewed talks after the original negotiations broke down at midnight.

He said: "We have had very little sleep but we are happy."

It followed a dramatic night in which the signing was called off after six hours of talks in Milan.

Speaking from his hotel this morning Richmond said: "We were preparing to return home on the 6.30am flight when we received the message that they wanted another meeting at 9am."

City offered the 28-year-old a bumper package to tempt him to Valley Parade but they faced competiton for the former Sheffield Wednesday and Aston Villa player from Premiership rivals Coventry and Serie A side Napoli.

Coventry wanted Carbone to fill the void left by striker Robbie Keane's £13million transfer to Italian giants Inter Milan.

Carbone was a free agent after rejecting a £20,000 a week offer to stay at Aston Villa at the end of the season.

The City officials, who agreed terms with the player on Monday after West Ham striker Paulo Wanchope rejected a £4million move to Valley Parade, had to scrap their original plans to meet Carbone in London yesterday when they received a fax from his agent expressing doubts about the deal and flew instead to Milan.

Richmond, who admitted to being "devastated" when the talks appeared to have collapsed late last night, returned to the negotiations hopeful of getting his man.

He said: "I felt that we put our case over very well. Both Chris Hutchings and Shaun Harvey made important contributions. Chris and Benito seemed to get on very well. We kept on making the point to him that if he came to Bradford City he would be a hero.

"He is a player who craves attention and loves being the hero. We told him he would be guaranteed a tremendous reception from the fans in Bradford."