New Jersey native Giuseppe Rossi is ready for a return to the Premier League.
Rossi, 31, has suffered several serious injuries over the last few years while playing in Italy and Spain but he is now ready to get back on the horse.
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He has been training with Manchester United over the past few weeks to build up his fitness, and the Italian national team forward has impressed both Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Sir Alex Ferguson who have been watching on.
Rejoining United, the club he played for from 2004-07, doesn’t seem to be an option, but Sky Sports asked Rossi about a move elsewhere in the Premier League.
“For me it is just a matter of playing at the highest level. The Premier League is one of the best leagues in the world. No doubt,” Rossi said. “It would be a pleasure to come back here, play and prove myself. I am ready for a new challenge.”
Asked if he believes he can perform in the PL right now, Rossi was positive: “Of course, I am ready, I am feeling good. I am training with the best players in the world and the best team in the world. I can’t ask for more.”
Why is Rossi currently without a club?
He failed a drugs test at the end of the 2017-18 season in Italy while playing for Genoa, but he was given a warning in October 2018 and is now free to play again after what he called a “nightmare four months” due to the investigation into how a banned substance, Dorzolamide, got into his system.
Which Premier League club could do with signing Rossi, a free agent? Plenty, is the simple answer.
But with Rossi not owned by another club right now, it is likely he will not be signed in the next week. Instead PL clubs will take a look and see who they can sign before the January transfer window shuts on Thursday, Jan. 31 at 6 p.m. ET and then Rossi is their back up option.
The former Fiorentina and Villarreal star seems to be happy working his way back to full fitness, but a few in the PL clubs could help him get his career back on track. Crystal Palace, Cardiff City and Huddersfield Town are all said to be on the lookout at signing a new striker in the final days of the window and Rossi would fit the bill. Concerns over his fitness will remain and that could put off plenty of clubs. Last season he played just 10 games for Genoa in Serie A, scoring once, but he did score 12 times over the previous two seasons when on loan at Levante and Celta Vigo.
Rossi’s predatory finishing is undoubted but given the serious nature of many of his injuries in recent years he may have a lost a little of the explosiveness he used to possess. That said, a player of his quality on a short-term contract until the end of the season would surely be a no-brainer for a few PL strugglers needing a boost in the attacking department.
