The American born Italian international forward Giuseppe Rossi has had a respectable career, with a particularly impressive spell at Villareal. Hes also won 30 caps for Italy. And yet, its hard not to feel that he could have achieved more with his natural talent, if he had not been hobbled by long term injuries. Rossis professional career began at Parma before being snapped up by Manchester United. He netted on his Premier League debut as a substitute, and big things were predicted for the striker. He scored two goals in the F.A. Cup 3rd round in January of 2006, but three goals were as a good as it got for him at Old Trafford. Uninspiring loan stints at Newcastle United and his old club Parma followed, before United cashed in and sold him to Villareal for the start of the 2007/08 season. He flourished in Spain - getting into double figures in each of his first four seasons, including an impressive 32 goals in the 2010/11 season as helped the unfashionable club to Champions League qualifications. He was linked with a move to Barcelona, but two successive anterior cruciate ligament injuries in his right knee saw Rossi miss almost a year and half of his career. He joined Fiorentia in January of 2013 but a lack of fitness meant he only made one appearance in his first season. His time in Florence was again pock-marked by recurring knee injuries, he only played 41 times over 3 seasons but still scored a relatively respectable 19 goals. These days he's back in Spain, on loan at La Liga's bottom side Levante, desperate to regain form and fitness. It's a real shame that a goalscorer of such natural talent will almost certainly be watching Euro 2016 from the sidelines instead of leading the line for his country.
David is an office drone and freelance writer for WhatCulture and Moviepilot, among others. He's also foolishly writing a serialised novel on Jukepop and has his own irregularly updated website. He's available for freelance work. Reach out on Twitter to @davefox990
