At one point in the early 2000s, Giuseppe Rossi was seen as an upcoming star for Manchester United.
He couldn’t quite meet that expectation but the former striker managed to have a decent career, playing 30 times for Italy and scoring seven goals.
Rossi had a decorated stint at Villarreal, where he scored 82 times in all competitions, and after spells with Fiorentina, Genoa, Celta Vigo and SPAL, he retired in the summer of 2023.
Now 38, the ex-Azzurri player spoke to Corriere della Sera and he revealed how he ended up joining Manchester United as a teenager.
He said: “At 17, after a training session with Parma. An emissary from the club [Manchester United] shows up at the pitch and asks me to open my hand, offering me a pin with the team’s logo. I signed the contract in a restaurant, my dad was with me.”
Rossi also stated that Sir Alex Ferguson has accepted an invitation for his retirement game and went on to tell a story about a League Cup game against Birmingham City in 2005.
He said: “I hadn’t heard from him for a long time but he said yes straight away. Let’s hope he doesn’t do the same thing in Birmingham.
“League Cup quarter-finals, me in attack with Louis Saha. 0-0 after the first half, at half-time he yells at me in front of everyone. “You have to get moving”. He replaces me and after 5 minutes we score two goals.”
It is clear that Rossi still has a lot of respect for Ferguson, under whom the Italian had broken through at Manchester United as a first-team player.
The forward played only 14 games in all competitions for the Old Trafford club and while that isn’t much, he did score four goals during his stay at Manchester United.
Playing for the Red Devils helped him take his career forward, considering the impressive stints he had at Villarreal and Fiorentina. It shows even if Rossi didn’t turn out to be a key player for Ferguson, the manager did play a role in his development.
