If you think David Beckham lives his life in goldfish bowl, you should check out the pressures on Gabriel Batistuta. In a league of great defenders, Italians prize a proven goalscorer above anyone else, and Florence prize the Argentinian striker so highly they erected a 10-foot statue to him outside the Stadio Artemio. Everywhere he goes, "Batigol" is pestered, patted and pawed like he's public property. When it comes to adulating their heroes, British football fans have nothing on their Italian counterparts. Things are so bad, "the Archangel Gabriel" as he's known, isn't sure whether he can carry on attending his local church on Sundays: when he's kneeling in supplication, the congregation has a tendency to jump on him, thrust ballpoints in his hand and demand his holy script in their autograph books. Hardly the ideal conditions for a quiet confession.

Understandably Batistuta tends to spend most of his time at home in the Tuscan countryside well away from the crowds. He pulls a rueful face at the mention of how fans tried to have him appointed Mayor of Florence. Give him the quiet life any day.

"Going into town can get too much. There have been times when I've gone out in disguise, put my hair up, worn dark glasses. But someone always spots me. And in Italy they don't do it quietly. One time, a bloke recognised me and then followed me down the whole street pointing me out. I had to run for my life - it was like something out of a crazy film with hundreds of people chasing me along the pavement. I had to be rescued by the police and sign loads of autographs for my own protecion. Some of the fans' requests are too naughty to print. Let's just say I had some very strange offers in my time, offers you probably wouldn't believe if I told you."

Of course, erecting a statue to a current football hero can be a risky business - imagine if Blackburn fans had built a monument to Alan Shearer for winning them the league, they'd still be stuck with it now - but in this case Batistuta has returned fans' loyalty by sticking with the club through thick and thin, even after relegation to Serie B in 1993. He is currently seeking Italian citizenship.

Arguably Batistuta is the best foreign player in Italy never to have signed up for one of the big clubs. In fact, during his career he's won the Argentinian league with River Plate and the Copa America twice but only the Italian Cup with Fiorentina. A great player surely deserves more than that and there has been no lack of offers. Turning down $18m for the striker from Real Madrid a couple of years back, club president Cecchi Gori, a TV and media mogul, headed off the lynchmob by announcing, "Commercially it (the offer) is tempting, but Batistuta is the emblem of Florence, almost as if he were the son of Lorenzo de Medici."

The young prince's services don't come cheap - about £2.4m per year is the going rate - but he is emphatically worth it. Where would Fiorentina be without his goals?

Last season he was voted the best foreigner in Serie A and this term he has played outstandingly for the club in the Champions League. He drills in goals from any angel and, with him around, opposing defences doze off at their peril - his speciality is to strike out of nowhere when the other team is least expecting it. Remember his goal at Wembley against Arsenal when he left Nigel Winterburn for dead and lashes the ball viciously past Seaman into the roof of the net? Batistuta does.

"Yeah, Wembley is a nice ground. I scored a great goal against Arsenal in the Champions League and everyone claimed I did it for the coach (Giovanni Trapattoni had just offerd to resign). But it was for me, my teammates and for my club. For everyone. Goals will always be appreciated, and up front you will always be given the glory that other players deserve as well. So that is why I always make a point of talking about my team, not myself - but I did enjoy scoring that one."

Hard to believe it now but when Batistuta was 15 he was nicknamed "El Gordo"(Fatty) and weighed 5'9". The flab fell away when he took up football professionally, but he admits he still tends to put on weight under stress. He intended styding medecine but football proved a better way out of poverty with spells at Newell's Old Boys, River Plate and Boca Juniors before moving to Europe as makeweight in a deal with wonderboy Diego Lattore, a player who sank without trance in Italy. Against expectations, Batistuta went on to great things and broke Diego Maradona's scoring record for Argentina, among other outstanding goalscoring feats. These include 15 goals in 11 consecutive games at the start of 1995/96 and a seasonal average of 20-plus for Fiorentina.

Ask Batistuta whether he is ever likely to leave sunny Tuscany and he is more than happy to nod along with the idea that, yes he would love to join Manchester United. The reality is he probably isn't going anywhere. He's still got three years left on his contract and, when that expires, he will probably think aboute retiring. " I would have loved to have played Premiership football. I love the style of play in England and the way the fans walk to the match, calmly and tranquilly. The game is so passionate over there. If I could have joined another club, it would have been Manchester United. I admire everything about them: their success, their fantasic stadium, everything. But I'm very lucky that I enjoy a good relationship with the fans in Italy, where others have been driven mad by the intense pressure. My family are very settled here and love the Italian way of life. You have to be at top of your game to make it in Italy. If you are successful, life is very good and you are rewarded with everything you could possibly want. The bad side, though is the intensity and the demands. Your life is sometimes not your own and everybody feels they own you. Sometimes you struggle to cope with the demands because they are so excessive. The media will try everything to get a story on you here, they know no boundaries. And the fans want a big slice of you too. Once I've stopped, I will go home to Argentina. I miss my country;there are times when I just want to go home and escape everything, but I usually snap out of it and get on with life."

Batistuta's burning ambition is to get his hands on a major trophy. Just one would do - something shiny with handles to stick up on the mantle-piece and polish when he travels down Memory Lane. "The World Cup or European Cup would be nice, just one big trophy for me to cherish in retirement. Success is important to me. At the moment I´m playing in the Champions League and Fiorentina are doing very well. But I don't know whether we are good enough to win it. It will be extremly hard to get a result against Manchester United at Old Trafford. They are the best team in Europe and our home win was by no means easily achieved. I think we will be extremely lucky if we get a draw. But you never know , anything can happen on the day. As for Stam, I don't tend to worry about defenders, or whoever is marking me. I've played against the best and they are all out to make a name of themselves. It doesn't matter who I'm playing against, I am always confident of scoring

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