Argentina icon Batistuta undergoes ankle surgery after 'begging' doctor to amputate legs

Argentina legend Gabriel Batistuta has revealed he begged a doctor to amputate his legs after suffering years of mobility issues since his retirement in 2005.

The Fiorentina icon, who scored more than 350 goals for club and country throughout a 17-year career, has now undergone surgery on his ankle as he looks to "walk like a normal person again."

Batistuta has spoken before about the day-to-day physical agony of his post-playing life, an often ignored aspect of life as a professional footballer.

“I was crying from the pain so I asked a doctor to amputate my legs,” he told Corriere della Sera.

“I felt pain, pain and more pain. The operation was a solution I’d been chasing for at least six to seven years.

“In 40 days, once I remove the brace, we’ll know if the pain has disappeared and I can finally walk like a normal person again.”

The two-time Copa America winner, who also represented Newell’s Old Boys, River Plate, Boca Juniors, Roma, Inter and Al-Arabi throughout his prolific career, says he realised the extent of the damage done to his ankles immediately after he retired.

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His remarkable tally of 54 goals in 77 international games sees him second on Argentina’s all-time top scorers list, behind only Lionel Messi. But Batistuta says he is far form the first goalscoring icon to have experienced such problems off the pitch.

“As soon as I stopped playing, I found my ankles to be in pieces,” he added. “Bone against bone, supporting a weight of 86-87 kilograms. The slightest movement became agony.

“I had the same problem as [Marco] Van Basten, who said enough was enough at 28 years of age.

“I couldn’t get out of bed on some days. I’d be crying with anger and I said to myself: ‘It can’t go on like this.’

“I felt sick, so sick that I went to a doctor friend of mine and asked him to amputate my legs. I prayed to him, I insisted. I told him that this was no longer life.”

While Batistuta has never managed a professional side in the 15 years since he retired from playing, he has been linked with a move into management on more than one occasion in recent years.