Former Argentina striker Gabriel Batistuta is set to return to football as a director with Primera División side Colón de Santa Fe.
Following a meeting with club president Germán Lerche on Thursday evening, rumours abounded over which position Batistuta would be offered. It has now been revealed that 'Batigol' will take up the role of technical secretary of Colón from the start of 2012.
The move marks a welcome return to football for the former Fiorentina and Roma striker; since retiring in 2005, Batistuta has taken his coaching badges in Argentina but, rather than entering the world of coaching, has been playing polo and involving himself in advertising. Batistuta had even been linked with taking managerial roles at Boca Juniors and the Argentine national team, among other jobs, but until now has stayed out of the football world.
As technical secretary of Colón, Batistuta will act as an intermediary between the club's directors and coach Mario Sciacqua and his squad. Batistuta and Sciacqua already know each other after playing together in the Newell's Old Boys youth team, and will work together again when it comes to recruiting reinforcements for the team.
Hiring Batistuta marks a statement of intent for Colón and their ambitions off the pitch as well as on it, as they look to build on their steady performances in the four championships of 2010 and 2011 after finishing 3rd in the 2009 Apertura. Batistuta is the Argentine national team's top scorer with 56 goals in 78 games, and scored 355 goals in 633 career games in total, winning a Clausura title with Boca Juniors, the scudetto with Roma in 2001 and the Copa América twice with Argentina in 1991 and 1993 during a glittering career.
