‘I got a phone call and our manager said, ‘I think you’d better take it’. It was the Pope - I said, ‘Hi Pope, you alright?’ So we went to the Vatican to meet the Pope and shook hands with him’ Paul Gascoigne on meeting Pope John Paul II

Paul Gascoigne should have been on top of the world when he joined Lazio. Instead, just getting on the pitch was a lengthy test of character.

Gazza suffered a self-inflicted injury in the FA Cup final in 1991 and had to work his way back to fitness before his Italian adventure could really begin.

Naturally, Gascoigne went on to become a fan favourite and contribute to the popularity of Italian football among English fans. He experienced Rome like nobody else could.

Paul Gascoigne on his visit to Vatican City

"I got a phone call once, and our manager Dino Zoff said, ‘I think you’d better take it'," Gascoigne tells FourFourTwo. "I went, ‘I’m f**king training, tell them to call back, who the f**k is it?’

"And it was the Pope. I answered the phone and said, ‘Hi Pope, you all right?’ My dad was a Catholic, so we went to the Vatican to meet the Pope – we shook hands with him."

Gascoigne was a newly minted global superstar when talks with Lazio began. The move was delayed by his injury but the Italian club stuck to their guns.

The Biancocelesti were acquiring a phenomenal footballing talent who oozed star quality and a player who had become one of the headline acts at the 1990 World Cup in Italy.

Formerly of Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur, Gascoigne had won BBC Sports Personality of the Year and been named Spurs Player of the Year before injuring his knee and setting sail for Rome.

There, his celebrity only increased. He eventually played 47 times in all for Lazio before returning to Britain and enjoying a remarkable spell in Glasgow with Rangers.

Middlesbrough and Everton followed before Gazza's career wound down with a series of short stints over the next few years.

His problems have been widely documented over the decades but Gazza retains the love and affection of millions of English football fans.

He brought such joy to the game that he's still the yardstick for England's enigmatic, talented, young, creative players.

In terms of raw natural ability and his specific style, Gascoigne is yet to truly be matched.