SASA Curcic was hailed today as a Euro star by the man who has played alongside and against the best in Italy's Serie A - the only domestic league in the world to rival the Premiership.

Enzo Gambaro saw the super Serb in action for the first time in Wanderers 1-0 victory over Wimbledon and had no hesitation in rating him among the best midfield players in the game.

"Technically he is definitely a very good player," said the £2 million-rated AC Milan left-back who has joined Wanderers on a month's trial and will play in the reserves at West Brom on Wednesday. "He would definitely attract a score of Italian clubs as well as the many clubs who already admire him in England."

The Yugoslav's performance was just one of the factors which impressed Gambaro as he watched from the stands as Wanderers claimed their third Premiership victory of the season. The man from the San Siro, who has also had spells in Serie A with Parma, Sampdoria, Napoli and Fiorentina, is hoping to take advantage of the Bosman ruling by lining up a "free" transfer to a Premiership club.

Speaking through an interpreter, he confirmed other English clubs have shown an interest in signing him but was full of praise for the way Wanderers tackled such a difficult fixture. "I was impressed with the way Bolton handled this match because it was particularly difficult in as much as Wimbledon play a sort of game that doesn't enable you to play very much football," he explained.

"I have seen a lot of English football on TV and I know that Wimbledon can easily suck you into their way of playing.

"It was a sign of particular tactical intelligence because Wimbledon can be very difficult to play against with their long ball game."

Italy's respected football publication Gazetta della Sport confirmed at the weekend that Gambaro would command a fee of £2 million if he chose to stay in Italy. Under previous UEFA guidelines, AC Milan would have been entitled to around £1.1 million if he moved abroad. But the player insisted today: "Because of the Bosman ruling I can now move outside Italy without a fee being involved.

"If I do, Milan are going to lose money but because I am out of contract I can be selfish about this and think of my own career. I am in a position to do what I want and that is to play first team football in the Premier League of a foreign country."

Gambaro says he will welcome the chance to prove his fitness and take the opportunity to adjust to the pattern of the English game in the Pontins League game.

Burnden boss Colin Todd will decide tomorrow whether he will be joined by Alan Thompson, who is back in training just five weeks after a double hernia operation. Thompson hopes to play at The Hawthorns, where he could give himself an outside chance of being involved in Saturday's game away to his former club and Premiership leaders Newcastle.

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