From Jeff Carlisle over at centerlinesoccer.com (click here for the original):



According to San Jose Earthquakes manager Frank Yallop, the only obstacle remaining in the team’s pursuit of midfielder Francisco Lima is for the Brazilian to hash out the fine print with MLS on a contract.



“[Lima] has agreed to a general framework,” said Yallop. “We’re getting close.”

While Yallop cautioned that nothing is certain until Lima actually puts pen to paper, he sounded confident that a deal will soon be completed so that the former AS Roma man can begin playing once the MLS transfer window reopens on July 15. Yallop also stated that Lima has several contract offers on the table from teams outside of MLS, but the midfielder is prepared to throw his lot in with San Jose.



“Lima can go many places,” said Yallop. “But he like what he saw and he wants to make it work here.”

While Lima’s financial demands aren’t known, it is beleived that he wants an 18-month contract that would take him through the 2009 season.

From Wikipedia (yup, it appears that he is 37):

Francisco Govinho Lima (born April 17, 1971 in Manaus) is a Brazilian football (soccer) player. He is a defensive midfielder. He played for São Paulo Futebol Clube in 1996, and played for Gaziantepspor in 1996/1998. He then played for FC Zürich between 1998 to 2000, and joined Serie A team Lecce during 1999/2000. One year later, he transferred to Bologna, and impressed AS Roma enough to win a move to them in 2001. He stayed in the capital for three seasons. At the age of 33, he went northward to Lokomotiv Moscow. At January 2006, he was loaned to Qatar SC, until the summer. He signed for Dinamo Moscow in a free transfer during the second half of the Russian season. He joined Brescia Calcio in January 2007.

-Courtesy of the Patrician