Giuseppe Rossi looks back over his career at Manchester United, Villarreal and Fiorentina, revealing how close he came to joining Barcelona and Juventus.

Pepito had a long conversation with Cronache di Spogliatoio, starting from Old Trafford, which he named as his favourite stadium.

Giuseppe Rossi looks back over his career at Manchester United, Villarreal and Fiorentina, revealing how close he came to joining Barcelona and Juventus.

Pepito had a long conversation with Cronache di Spogliatoio, starting from Old Trafford, which he named as his favourite stadium.

“I went because of the prestige I’d get working with Sir Alex Ferguson, playing with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Ryan Giggs, Ruud van Nistelrooy. Manchester United has always been such a good club for young players and know the right time to get you involved. It was a shock the first day, the first people I met were Ferguson and Giggs, I was dumbfounded.

“Cristiano Ronaldo always wanted to be the best, both on the field and off. I spent a lot of time with Gerard Pique in Manchester and we kind of grew up together there.”

Rossi went on to Newcastle United, Parma and Villarreal, but almost didn’t head for Fiorentina in 2013.

“I had an extraordinary season with Villarreal and Barcelona called, it was all done, the contract was ready to sign. We just had to agree the fee between the clubs, how it would be divided up with bonuses. As soon as Barcelona found out Villarreal wanted a larger set fee, they changed transfer target and left me.

“It’s a pity, that was the best team in the world at that time, but I have no regrets. I was also very close to Juventus when Antonio Conte arrived, but then they sold Santi Cazorla and couldn’t let me go at the same time.”

Rossi eventually did join Fiorentina in January 2013 and he felt they didn’t quite achieve what they were capable of.

“We had Mario Gomez, David Pizarro, Borja Valero, Juan Cuadrado, Stefan Savic, Joaquin, Alberto Aquilani… We were second in December and didn’t talk to each other about the Scudetto, but if we’d all stayed fit and healthy, we could’ve had our say. We finished fourth and that would’ve been enough for a Champions League spot nowadays.”

The highlight of Rossi’s Viola career was the brace in the comeback to beat Juventus 4-2.

“I didn’t really understand the rivalry with Juve, until we travelled from the hotel to the stadium and I read up on the history and motivation behind it. We were making mistakes and were trailing at half-time, but Vincenzo Montella only said a couple of words to us at the break and we realised what we had to do. I still get goosebumps watching it.

“When I left the dressing room to go home, the directors told me to look out the window and there were hundreds of fans gathered, singing my chant. I saw some of them crying! That’s when I realised what that game meant. I still get messages about it to this day.”

Rossi’s career has been devastated by injuries and he is currently back in America with Real Salt Lake.

“I hate to look back at what happened, because it’s impossible to explain why any of it happened. The injuries always came during the peak moments of my career.

“I didn’t suffer for long, because the desire to get back out there and make a difference was always stronger than the pain.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Tickets Kit Collector