Socceroos' midfielder Vince Grella will play club football in Australia for the first time in 14 years after agreeing to join the Melbourne Heart.

Grella, 33, has been dogged by injuries during the past four years at English Premier League club Blackburn.

Prior to that, he spent a decade in Italy playing for Empoli, Torino and Parma.

Grella has earned 46 caps for Australia and was a key member of the national squad at the 2006 and 2010 World Cups.

His signing is a coup for Heart coach John Aloisi, a former international teammate of Grella.

The Heart have made a fast start to the 2012-13 A-League campaign, with a win and a draw in their opening two games.

The Melbourne-born Grella will link up with his new club on Monday.

His only previous experience in Australian club soccer involved single-season stints with the Canberra Cosmos and Carlton in the now defunct NSL.