FRANCE 98 – General Media News Template

Manchester United may be preparing to swoop for Argentine World Cup star Gabriel Batistuta.

The team captain and star striker has decided to quit Fiorentina and the former English champions are one of the teams seeking his signature, the Argentine ace’s agent said on Tuesday. Batistuta, who has spent seven years with the Serie A team, has been talking openly in recent weeks about looking for a new challenge, and making a clean break from the Florence club.

Fiorentina president Vittorio Cecchi Gori and incoming coach Giovanni Trapattoni have both said they want the 29-year-old forward to stay. But the player’s agent Settimio Aloisio crushed those hopes on Tuesday by saying: ” Batistuta’s decision is definitive: he will not be coming back to play in Florence. ” Gabriel wants to leave and nobody, not even Trapattoni, will make him change his mind. “

AS Roma have already been making a determined bid for Batistuta, but Aloisio made it clear that the man they call ” Batigol ” may yet be heading for the English Premiership and Old Trafford. ” There are a lot of people interested, there’s AS Roma, but they are no further ahead than any of the others, ” the agent said. ” There are also Parma, Real Madrid and Manchester United. ” I’ve also heard that Lazio are interested, but I have had no contact with them. In any case, it’s down to Cecchi Gori to consider the offers and I hope it can all be cleared up before the World Cup finals.”

” I wouldn’t want a repeat of what happened last summer. “ The Argentinian spent most of last summer threatening not to return to the club after a bitter contract row with the Fiorentina president, and only joined his teammates with the pre-season training camp already underway. Though his team struggled to get a UEFA Cup place, taking Italy’s last remaining slot on Sunday, Batistuta has had another fine season in front of goal. He scored 24 times (21 in the Serie A and three in the Italian Cup) — taking his career total with the club to 150.

He is on international duty with Argentina this week and has almost certainly played his last game for the club: the World Cup preparations mean he will miss Saturday’s final Serie A match against AC Milan.