Italian sides strengthen squads

Hakan Sükür, Marco Simone and Álvaro Recoba head the list of new players eligible to play in the UEFA Cup from the fourth round.

Registration guidelines
Midnight on Thursday was the deadline for teams to register a maximum of three new signings or previously unregistered players for participation in the rest of the competition. Players who have represented another club already in UEFA competition this season (bar the first three rounds of the UEFA Intertoto Cup) are not eligible for inclusion.

Hakan available
After leaving Internazionale FC, Turkish international Hakan has been registered by his new side Parma AC and will be available to face Hapoel Tel-Aviv, who surprisingly eliminated English side Chelsea FC in the second round, in February's two-legged encounter. The 30-year-old was part of the Galatasaray SK side which won the competition in 2000, beating Arsenal FC on penalties in the final in Copenhagen.

Simone eyes more glory
Another player with a fine European pedigree is Milan AC striker Simone, who has returned to the San Siro on loan from AS Monaco FC. The 33-year-old left Milan for Paris Saint-Germain FC in 1997, after winning four Serie A titles, the European Champion Clubs' Cup twice and scoring 40 goals in 168 league appearances. After two seasons in the French capital the former Italian international moved to Monaco where he won Le Championnat in 2000.

Recoba back
Recoba has been added to the Inter squad after serving a suspension for having played with a fake Italian passport. The Uruguyan had his intitial one-year ban cut to four months on appeal and will be available for Inter's meeting with AEK Athens in round four.