Giuseppe Rossi joins Real Salt Lake

Giuseppe Rossi has joined MLS side Real Salt Lake. He’d been searching for a team since Genoa released him in the summer of 2018; Villarreal invited him to train with them last autumn and the hope had to be that he’d be offered a contract with the Submarine, but even before the January transfer window opened it was announced that wouldn’t be happening.

Rossi played for Villarreal for five and a half years, signed from Manchester United in July 2007. He’ll always be remembered for his 2010-11 campaign when he and Nilmar formed such a strong strike pair: he scored 32 goals in all competitions that year, including 18 in the league and 11 in the Europa League.

The first of his knee injuries happened in October 2011; he never played for Villarreal after that point, but was sold to Fiorentina. In the 2012-13 season he scored 16 goals in 21 Serie A matches, but in January 2014 an infamous tackle from Livorno’s Leandro Rinaudo injured his knee again.

When Rossi has been healthy, he’s still been able to score (10 goals in 35 appearances for Levante and Celta, including his only La Liga hat trick, for the Celeste) but at age 33, his acceleration has certainly suffered with all the injuries, but his technical ability and eye for goal is still there. We wish him all the best in Salt Lake!!!!