The six-month deal was agreed upon by the two Italian clubs on Tuesday while Nakata, who has been twice named the Asian footballer of the year, was vacationing during the Christmas season, the Nikkan Sports daily reported.

"The two clubs held talks and reached the agreement," Parma team manager Lorenzo Minotti was quoted by the daily as saying. "Nakata will return on the 30th and it will be over in two minutes if he says okay."

Nakata, 26, who has been given only a few chances to play at Parma, and Bologna have already reached a basic agreement on remuneration and other terms, the daily said.

He will be paid an estimated 92 million yen (842,500 dollars) for the stint, 30 percent down from what he would have earned at Parma, it added.

But Nakata's agent in Tokyo, Sunny Side Up Inc., said the report was premature.

"There has been no agreement whatsoever," Mina Fujita, a Sunny Side Up official, told AFP. "We have learned through press reports that Bologna is interested in Nakata. But press reports always tend to go too far."

Nakata has been rated the most successful of the growing band of Asian footballers to have pursued a career in Europe.

He moved to Perugia after the 1998 World Cup finals for his first overseas contract. He also played for AS Roma before he was sold to Parma in 2001.

In the middle of this year, he was reported to be sought after by other European clubs such as English Premiership Chelsea as well as Italy's AC Milan and Lazio.