Sir Alex Ferguson once called a Manchester United youngster ‘the new Paul Scholes’ – and he is living a different life now.
Most fans will know Scholes as one of the greatest midfielders in the Premier League era, playing a key role in 11 league title wins with United.
He also lifted the Champions League for the first and only time in his career in 2008, and made over 700 appearances for the Manchester club.
Scholes was also known for his goalscoring, and is a member of the Premier League’s 100 club.
He began his career as a striker and would regularly get himself into advanced areas during his prime years, before dropping back into defensive midfield as he entered the closing years of his time at the elite level.
Ferguson once dubbed Scholes as the ‘most natural goalscorer we’ve had come through this club’ during his time in charge in 2005.
The Scot said the closest to Scholes in terms of natural finishing ability was Giuseppe Rossi, who had recently broken through into the first team at the time.
He said: “He’s a wonderful finisher. He’s not dissimilar to Paul in a way, because when Paul first came to the club, he was a centre-forward too. Then he started to learn the game and dropped into deep positions behind the strikers.
Giuseppe Rossi briefly returned to train with Man Utd in 2019 (Image: Getty)
“Giuseppe can play right through like Paul, and can also drop in. But the big similarity between them is Giuseppe’s cool head in the box.
“He’s such a terrific finisher, and that’s something you can’t teach.”
The Italian was sent out on loan twice by Ferguson, with his latter spell at Serie A side Parma proving most successful as he scored just nine goals in 19 appearances.
To the surprise of some, United sold Rossi to Villarreal in the summer of 2007 for a fee of €10 million.
He hit at least 10 La Liga goals in four consecutive seasons for The Yellow Submarine, netting on 18 occasions during the 2010/11 season.
Rossi had a largely successful six-year stint at Villarreal (Image: Getty)
But the 2011/12 season proved to be a nightmare for the Italian, as he suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury to his right knee in October 2011 – before then re-injuring the same knee shortly after his return six months later.
A move to Fiorentina in 2013 heralded what appeared to be the start of a new dawn for Rossi, as he smashed in 16 goals in just 21 Serie A appearances.
But he suffered another knee injury at the beginning of 2015, and was loaned out to Celta Vigo for the 2016/17 season.
In April 2017, another ACL injury, this time to his left knee, meant another significant period of time on the sidelines.
Where is Giuseppe Rossi now?
Spells at Genoa, Real Salt Lake and SPAL followed before Rossi officially announced his retirement in 2023.
Last month, Rossi announced that he would be holding a farewell match on March 22, featuring Serie A legends such as Luca Toni, Gabriel Batistuta and Antonio Cassano.
Ferguson will also be involved in the match as a coach, with Rossi telling Corriere dello Sport: “He was first coach. I signed when I was 17 [for United].
“I only spent three years with him and played little but he immediately said yes, which shows the kind of person he is. He treats me like a Ronaldo, who has scored 1,000 goals.”
