Former Livorno and Italy striker Cristiano Lucarelli on Tuesday joined Serie A club Parma after six months with Ukraine giants Shakhtar Donetsk.
Lucarelli, 32, never settled in with Shakhtar despite realising his dream of playing in the Champions League.
The ex-Livorno talisman cost 5.7 million euros and will earn 1.5 million euros until June 2010, Parma said.
Parma are 13th in Serie A, four points above the relegation zone.
When he left Livorno in July, the prolific striker hinted he was moving abroad to avoid having to play against the beloved but unsung home-town club he effectively kept in the top flight for four years.
Ending weeks of speculation that a rift with club owners was irreparable, he joined three-time Ukraine champions Shakhtar for eight million euros.
The rugged but effective journeyman goal-getter scored 53 times in 73 matches in his first two Livorno seasons.
In 2005 he beat the likes of AC Milan's Ukraine star Andriy Shevchenko and Inter's Brazil striker Adriano to the Serie A marksman's title.
In all, he scored 92 goals in 146 appearances for Livorno.
Before accepting Skakhtar's bid, Lucarelli had rejected a string of better-paying offers in order to remain in the Tuscan port, earning a reputation as a modern-day rarity in terms of club loyalty.
Lucarelli had been linked to Fiorentina, Sampdoria - and Parma too.
Seldom has one man been so lionised as the symbol of such a small Serie A club - partly because of non-sporting reasons.
Livorno have an openly leftist hard-core fan base and Lucarelli made no secret of his like-minded sympathies, celebrating goals with a two-fisted salute and once briefly claiming Livorno were penalised ''because we're Communists''.
His shirt number, 99, was a tribute to left-wing ultra group Brigate Autonome Livornesi, founded in 1999.
He also had a Livorno logo tattooed on his left forearm.
In an Italy under-21 game in 1997 he celebrated a goal by unveiling a Che Guevara T-shirt, a controversial gesture he claimed later affected his Italy prospects.
In the end he won three Italy caps, scoring once in a 2005 friendly, but was left out of the 2006 World-Cup winning squad.
During an Azzurri injury crisis six months later he earned a recall from his former Livorno boss Roberto Donadoni and played a brief part in Italy's 2-1 away win against the Faroe Islands.
Lucarelli's seemingly perfect relationship with Livorno soured when club president Aldo Spinelli sacked coach Daniele Arrigoni.
He was further hurt after fans criticised a sluggish performance in April. Some even turned their backs on their idol and went as far as accusing him of match fixing.
The unprecedented slur spurred him to say he'd stay to help a struggling Livorno avoid the drop but then take his services elsewhere.
''I gave a lot to this club but got little back,'' he said at the time.
At Parma Lucarelli will not be able to wear his preferred 99 shirt since the number is taken by the team goalie.
He'll have to make do with a more traditional No.9, which might go some way towards easing the uncomfortable reception he is expected to receive back at Livorno.
