Gascoigne eventually joined Lazio for a fee of £5.5 million; he
received a £2 million signing-on fee and signed a contract worth £22,000
a week.
[39] He made his
Serie A debut on 27 September 1992 in a match against
Genoa which was televised in Britain as well as Italy.
[40]
He failed to fully settle in Italy and was beset by negative media
interest which was not helped by the numerous occasions he punched
reporters and the time when he
belched down a microphone on live television.
[41][42] He was well received by the club's fans, but not by the club's owner
Sergio Cragnotti, who resented him after Gascoigne greeted him by saying "
Tua figlia, grande tette" (roughly translated as "Your daughter, big tits").
[43] His form was inconsistent in his
first season at the
Stadio Olimpico as he had previously spent a year out injured, but he endeared himself to
Eagles fans when he scored in the 89th minute to equalise during the
Rome derby against
A.S. Roma.
[44] He broke his cheekbone whilst on international duty in April 1993, and had to play the remaining games of the season in a mask.
[45]
Lazio ended the campaign in fifth place, which was considered a success
as it meant qualification for European competition for the first time
in 16 years.
[46]
He fell badly out of shape before the
1993–94 season and was told by manager
Dino Zoff to lose two stone (13 kg) by the start of the campaign else he would lose his first team place.
[46] Gascoigne went on an extreme weight loss diet and succeeded in shedding the excess fat.
[47] He kept his place in the team and captained the club against
US Cremonese when regular captain
Roberto Cravero was substituted.
[48] However in April he broke his leg in training whilst attempting to tackle
Alessandro Nesta.
[49] Upon his recovery he was disgruntled with new head coach
Zdeněk Zeman's stern fitness approach, and both club and player decided to part ways at the end of the
1994–95 season.
[50]
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