Name: Giuseppe Rossi
Current Team: Fiorentina
Position: Forward
Age: 27
2013-14 season statistics: 16 goals, 3 assists, 66 shots, 65% accuracy
Giuseppe Rossi, an American-Italian, started his career playing for the Clifton Stallions, Clifton (NJ) but moved to Italy to join the Parma youth team at the age of 12. In 2004 he was signed by Manchester United, subsequently failed to make it into the first team, and after loan spells with both Newcastle United and Parma he was signed by Villarreal in 2007, during which time he scored 54 goals in 136 appearances. Rossi picked up an anterior cruciate ligament injury on his right knee in October 2011 causing him to miss six months and thereafter damaged it again during a training session in May 2012 that resulted in him sitting it out for another 10 months. Rossi moved back to Italy in January 2013 when he joined Fiorentina on a four-year contract; however this is subject to a €35 million release clause. In January 2014, exactly a year after being signed by Fiorentina he suffered a second-degree sprain of his medial collateral ligament, again in the right knee. Up to that point he’d been the leading goal scorer in Serie A scoring a total of 14 goals in 18 appearances. Despite his history of injury to his right knee, Rossi appears to be a prolific goal scorer when fit. We’re still waiting to hear whether Rossi will make the final 23 for Italy’s squad in the upcoming World Cup – at this time all we know is he’s made it into the provisional 30-man squad.
Photo via FARE network
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