One of world’s most glamorous sporting clubs AC Milan coming back to WA to play Perth Glory on July 31

They’re one of the world’s most glamorous sporting clubs, hailing from the fashion capital of the world. And AC Milan are making Perth their second home. The Italian giants — one of the oldest, most powerful and best known teams on the planet — are coming back to Western Australia to play local heroes Perth Glory on Thursday night. The club — known as I Rossoneri, which means red and blacks in Italian — is so big, it was once owned by controversial president Silvio Berlusconi while he was in office. They have won the top Italian league Serie A 19 times, the Coppa Italia five times and are seven-time European champions. This time, they are bringing some of the world’s best players down under. The squad includes megastars like United States national team captain Christian Pulisic, Portuguese star Rafael Leao and French international goal-keeper Mike Maignan. Pulisic, a star winger, has a whopping 7.7 million Instagram followers. The clash with Glory at HBF Park on Thursday, to be broadcast live and free on 7flix and 7plus, is the second time the red-and-blacks have hit Perth in as many years. AC Milan lost an entertaining glamour friendly against Italian rivals Roma at Optus Stadium last June. It is also understood they will become the first team in European soccer history to play a fully-fledged league match outside of the continent — in Perth next year. Milan are chasing somewhere to play while their historic San Siro home is used for the Winter Olympics. It comes as part of a flurry of blockbuster soccer matches in Perth. The Socceroos stunned Japan in the final minute of their high-stakes World Cup qualifier at Optus Stadium earlier this year, while Manchester United, Chelsea, Tottenham and Leeds United are among the English heavy-hitters to bring pre-season games to WA. For a Glory squad with plenty of young local talent, the matches present a rare opportunity to play against top opponents and in front of a big crowd — and for Perth soccer fans to see some of the world’s best stars at home. Glory coach and Australian soccer great David Zdrilic said Perth had been privileged to host so many big occasions. “It’s because Perth is a wonderful place to play football, it’s a wonderful city with so many positive attributes,” he said. “You see the crowds we have here, when everything is going well here, they come out and they support and it’s just a great atmosphere. This will be no different. “I think it’s great that we have more and more games here in Perth, that we are not left on the other side of the country, that we’re really part of it. “Hopefully we get more and more games.” The Glory feature on a star-studded slate for Milan’s pre-season tour. They played English Premier League champions Liverpool in Hong Kong on Saturday night and will also play Chelsea before their season starts in earnest late in August.