I've just purchased a 1997 petrol 1.4 Polo as a run about. The car runs fine but there is a problem selecting ANY gear.

It is extremely difficult to select the correct gear and requires a huge amount of pressure to push the gear stick into gear. On the plus side once in gear there are no crunching noises and the gear box works perfectly without any whining noises etc.

Is this likely to be something as simple as a selector mechansim that needs adjusting or renewal?