Forget Lazio and think of title, says Argentine marksman

He then pulled on Roma’s crimson and gold shirt and paraded in front of some 10,000 fans in the sunlit stands.

Roma chose to hold the presentation at the stadium instead of their training ground due to the huge number of supporters who wanted to greet their new hero.

Fans wore T-shirts printed with pictures of the long-haired Argentine in Roma colours and strung a banner across the stands of the ground. “Welcome, Rome is with you” it read.

“I came to Roma because the president here and the coach have a great will to win and that’s what I have too,” said Batistuta, who will earn around 14.8 billion lire ($7.25 million) per year from his three-year contract.

“They have a serious project and above all a lot of willpower … It’s clear Roma want to do great things.”

Batistuta, Argentina and Fiorentina’s all-time top-scorer, said Roma had to cure themselves of their obsession with the Rome Derby if they were to prosper in the league.

“If Roma want to win the Scudetto (league title) they have to realise that the Derby is one match among many,” he said.

“Of course it’s important but it is played only twice a year and the championship is won over 34 matches, not two.”

Roma have won the league title just twice and have not taken it since 1983. In the absence of success, their season has often revolved around their head-to-heads with Lazio, who won the title last month for only the second time in their history.

Batistuta, who stayed with Fiorentina despite their relegation to Serie B in 1993 and their lack of silverware, said he had fond memories of his time in Florence.

“It’s impossible for me to forget the nine years I spent there,” he said. ”I’m 31 now and I spent nearly a decade there — a third of my life.

“My three children were born there. They’re Florentines. It’s impossible for me to forget those things.”

He said his compatriot Abel Balbo, who moved to Fiorentina a year ago after five successful seasons at Roma, had been instrumental in persuading him to come to the Capital.

“Abel always had a lot of good things to say about Roma. He had some great years here. I Thank him for his advice.”

Batistuta joined Fiorentina from Buenos Aires side Boca Juniors for just 2.3 million in 1991 and scored a club record 168 goals for the Italian side.

Fiorentina fans staged vigils outside his house last month to persuade him to stay and urged Fiorentina president Vittorio Cecchi Gori not to sell him.

“Batistuta is like the Ponte Vecchio and Donatello’s David,” Graffiti written on one Florentine wall read. “They are jewels which are not for sale.” Reuters