IT is a pleasant 10-minute stroll from Wanderers' base at the four-star Hotel Palace to their training ground at the Parc Communale in the picturesque alpine town of Bormio writes Gordon Sharrock, Our Man In Italy

For everyone that is, apart from Youri Djorkaeff. It seems there is someone on every street who wants to shake his hand, beg an autograph or pose for a photograph.

No request is ever turned down.

As a former star of Internazionale, the mercurial Frenchman knows precisely what football means to the Italian people. And although it is more than four years since he played for the Nerazzurri, he delights in the fact that he is still remembered with affection.

One day he hopes to win a similar place in the hearts of Boltonians.

"It is fantastic," he says in a gracious response to the adulation.

"It's three or four years since I left Inter but the people don't forget. I hope I can stay in the memory of the people of Bolton like I have with the people of Inter."

Now 34, Djorkaeff is unlikely to match the incredible achievements of that three season spell in Italy between 96 and 99 when he helped the Milan giants win the UEFA Cup and was heralded as one of the globe's great talents as he helped France become world champions.

For one thing he has retired from international football after playing a bit part in the disastrous World Cup campaign and European qualification is a lot to ask of Wanderers - even at the breathtaking progress they are making under Sam Allardyce's management.

But success is relative and Djorkaeff, who saw enough of potential at the Reebok in his 12-match stint last season to commit himself to the next two seasons, is still hungry.

"To win something with Bolton wopuld be fantactic for me and for the town," he says more in hope, one suspects, than expectation. "I expect to have success, I always do. That is the spirit in which I play. I enjoyed my three months here last season - the people, the club, everything - and I wanted to continue with Sam and with Bolton.

"But last year was about survival and this year will be different. I want to be one of the people who helps Bolton enjoy that experience."

Before Djorkaeff went off on World Cup duty, he promised in an exclusive interview in the Bolton Evening News that he would seriously consider joining Wanderers on a permanent basis if he could see that their ambition matched his own.

Now, after keeping that promise, he says respectfully: "It was difficult to find a reason not to sign for Bolton.

"First I like to work for Sam but I told him (in May) that I wanted to be in a good team. I saw the Okocha signing and I saw the Bulent signing as well as other good players who were not leaving and said 'Okay - it can be interesting'."

But first hand experience has taught the world famous playmaker, a veteran of 82 internationals, that it takes more than just good players to achieve success.

And he is banking on the famous team spirit at the Reebok as a key ingredient over the course of the next campaign.

"Sometimes you can have a good team and win nothing," he says in a pointed reference to the disappointments suffered in Japan and Korea, where Roger Lemerre's squad suffered a chronic loss of morale.

"We saw that with France during the World Cup. But I think, with the spirit of the team here and the hard work of the players, we can achieve something. Maybe we can't play in the top five but we can improve."