AS Roma bag Burdisso from Inter Milan

Rome: AS Roma's long pursuit of Argentina defender Nicolas Burdisso finally paid off on Saturday when he signed from Inter Milan.

"The player has penned a four-year deal," Roma said in a statement.

Burdisso was a big success on loan at Roma last season when they ran his parent club Inter close in the race for the scudetto.

Roma, up for sale because of huge debts, have been trying throughout the close season to tie up a permanent deal without breaking the bank and eventually settled on an eight million euro ($ 10.2 million) transfer paid over three years.

Burdisso will link up with younger brother Guillermo, who signed for Claudio Ranieri's side from Rosario Central earlier in August.

Roma host promoted Cesena in their Serie A opener on Saturday.