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Saint Bati : The Big Goodbye (Pt 1)
Source: El Grafico Magazine |
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Saint Bati : The Big Goodbye (Pt 1)
Source: El Grafico Magazine |
Gabriel Batistuta's split with Fiorentina left an entire town in tears and the club with an internal crisis. Three major clubs such as Roma, Inter and Lazio fought over his transfer. He was offered 18 million dollars for three years of contract, making him the best paid player in the world.
The distant Fiesole hills, the landscape dominated by the majestic marble Duomo, give a false image of Florence. Everything there reflects tranquility and charm. The manifestations can not be seen, nor can the voices of protest be heard. No signs of Molotov cocktails, nor the atmosphere of devastation among Fiorentina's supporters can be felt. Nonetheless, behind one of the large windows stands the man who, with his play, caused something comparable to an emotional earthquake. Nobody knows how, but in front of his house a group of fans arrived. Some of them to ask him to stay; the majority to wish him luck or to simply see him for the last time. Their efforts were rewarded: Gabriel Batistuta saw them and appeared for a while to greet them, with a gesture of both surrender and sadness. It was only a matter of seconds, but it tore the hearts of both sides. Immediately after he closed the curtains in silence.
Who will give more?
Hardly had Batistuta announced his decision to leave Fiorentina or the city, that had loved and cherished him for nine years like no one else in the world, broke out into a little civil war. At the same time, in the rest of Italy, the fight to contract the striker untied. As if it were a public auction, one bid was made after the other, forcing up the price to unusual numbers for a 31-year-old player.
Franco Sensi - owner of an oil refinery and several real estates, and director of Roma since 1994 - wanted to have Bati at any cost. And he made that clear with his final offer: he arranged to pay 35 million dollars for the transfer and promised the player to pay him another 18 million for
three years of contract. On top of that, to make him feel comfortable at his new club, he assured him the inclusion of his best friend Abel Balbo and his personal masseur Luciano Datti. That makes him the best paid player on the planet, even better than Alessandro del Piero who managed to get a fabulous adjustment to his contract with Juventus last year to 5.4 million dollars per annum. There was only one
inconvenience: in principle the offer was only valid for 48 hours. The club president, who on several occasions had asked Vittorio Cecchi Gori to sell him the Argentine, wanted to have everything signed by Tuesday before Roma's entrance to Milan's Stock Exchange Market. It was all part of a strategy,
a well thought-out move to force up the stock exchange rates with 30% and to try to match up with the boost effect Lazio had had on their rates after winning both the scudetto and the Coppa Italia in the same week.
Why didn't he sign immediately? Bati does not admit to it, but despite the offer of this stature he had doubts on the advantage of going to Roma. They have not won a championship since 1983, did not qualify for the Champions League, nor do they have any megastars in their squad. In this sense the
Argentine felt more attracted take up Inter's jersey, as he recently even told publicly. On top of that, the striker from Reconquista has another dream: the Golden Ball. But he knows that therefore he does not only lack goals, but also a title and an outstanding performance in the Champions League. Roma's millions can not buy him that.
In a talk with El Gráfico, Bati made clear his preferences: "I am the one to choose, I am looking for a team that has ambitions and, more important, the spirit to win; a team that has the support of a serious society. I have spoken with all but I have not yet committed myself to any of them; they are all great teams. I think that for a 31-year-old like me this gives me a great sense of pride, but it is important that I deal with it calmly".
Contrary to Roma's hurry, at Inter, the club directed by Massimo Moratti - strangely enough also owner of an oil company - they agree with him to deal with things more
slowly. Inter's future depends greatly on the results of this Tuesday's match against Parma, of which the winner obtains a place in the Champions League. If Inter qualifies, the top scorer's possibilities will grow. Moratti, who has had a verbal agreement with Batistuta since several months, met in Milan with Aloisio to talk about the top scorer's transfer. But when the agent told him that had to outbid or at least match up with Roma's offer, he burst out in rage. "No, I will not take part in this auction game. Very simple, I will just stick with Vieri then..." Those strong words appeared to end the affair in favor of Roma, but in reality they put Lazio back in the race, the first club that had shown their interest in Bati.
"Of course I like Batistuta, but we already have too many Argentines", stated Sergio Cragnotti, dairy industry tycoon and director of the Italian champions. Eventually he did have a meeting with Aloisio, however, to talk about a transfer. Nonetheless many suspect that smart man Cragnotti was only trying to hold up business in favor of Inter and to cross Roma. If Bati signs for Inter, there is a great chance of Christian Vieri - one of the director's obsessions - returning to take up the blue-white jersey. On top of that, with this strategy, without having to do much, he would ruin the Roma's business going to the stock exchange market.
The possible sale of Gabriel Batistuta also caused a rouse that made the club shake to its foundations. In the very same week both trainer Trapattoni and vice-president Ugo Poggi resigned. The latter resigned after a dispute with Luciano Luna - currently Cecchi Gori's right hand - with whom the
Argentine did not have a good relationship either. "I believe Luna is partly to blame for Batistuta wanting to leave. Now that our idol is indeed leaving, he must be satisfied", Poggi stated. In reality, the internal problems have always existed, but Batistuta's strong presence functioned as a lightning conductor, drawing away the attention from what was actually happening within the organization. Now that this 'protection' has gone, everything comes to light. Diego Latorre, who was once affiliated with Fiorentina, did not hesitate to repeat his renowned words: "It is a farce".
Contrary to a few years ago, when the movie "La vita e bella" was awarded by the film critics in Cannes, this time the world's most prestigious film festival could not cheer movie producer Vittorio Cecchi Gori with a smile. But at least the trip to the Côte d'Azur allowed him to spend a week away from a Florence thrown into confusion about their idol. Although he had not brought in any movies to compete for a prize - for the first time in many Cannes years he had turned his back on
Italian movies, causing another national scandal - the entrepreneur came to Cannes to buy movies as well as to impose his own to other markets. And while he was having lunch with movie director Leonardo Pieraccioni, having cocktails with stars such as Uma Thurman or Kenneth Branagh and mingled with the brothers Bob and Harvey Weinstein (directors of movie label Miramax), he was called on his cellular phone and informed on what was happening in his town. And thus he was informed on the people's revolt following the confirmation of the player's decision, a revolt that was even much bigger and more violent than the one exactly ten years ago after Roberto Baggio, another local hero, was sold to Juve. That transfer plunged the club in a severe crisis and the Pontello family, under pressure, had to give up their shares.