Giuseppe Rossi

Rossi returned from injury as a 69th-minute substitute in Fiorentina's 3–1 Coppa Italia final loss to Napoli on 3 May.

On 6 May, he scored on his Serie A comeback – a 4–3 defeat to Sassuolo.

Due to his prolific performances in the Spanish La Liga, Rossi earned the nickname Pepito Rossi, a reference to his namesake Paolo Rossi, who was nicknamed Pablito following his goalscoring performances in Italy's victorious 1982 FIFA World Cup campaign in Spain.

Rossi is Italian American, born to Italian immigrant parents in Teaneck, New Jersey.

His father, Fernando Rossi from Fraine, Abruzzo, coached soccer and taught Italian and Spanish at Clifton High School.

His mother, Cleonilde Rossi from Acquaviva d'Isernia, Molise, was also a language teacher at Clifton, and his sister, Tina, currently lives in the United States.

Rossi played prep soccer at Clifton High School.

Giuseppe Rossi (born 1 February 1987) is a former professional footballer who played as a forward.

His first-team debut came on 20 November 2004, at home to Crystal Palace in the fifth round of the League Cup, as an 84th-minute substitute for David Bellion.

For his Premier League debut on 15 October 2005, he came on in the 78th minute for Ruud van Nistelrooy and nine minutes later scored the last goal in a 3–1 win over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

On 18 January 2006, in an FA Cup third-round replay, he started and scored twice as United beat non-league Burton Albion 5–0.

Although Rossi did not play in the League Cup final against Wigan Athletic, Nemanja Vidić (who made a seven-minute cameo at the end of the game) gave Rossi his medal in recognition of Rossi's contribution to the team's success in the earlier rounds.

He made his home debut on 24 September 2006.

Rossi scored his only Newcastle goal in his first start on 25 October 2006, against Portsmouth in a League Cup third round tie at St James' Park.

For the second half of the season, he was again loaned out, this time to his former club Parma, scoring nine goals in 19 league appearances.

At the start of the 2006–07 season, Rossi moved to Newcastle United on loan until 1 January 2007, where he was expected to gain some first team experience.

On 31 July 2007, Manchester United confirmed that Rossi had been sold to Spanish club Villarreal for an undisclosed fee, reportedly around £6.6 million (€10 million).

He scored his first goal for Villarreal on his debut against Valencia on 26 August 2007.

In his second season with Villarreal, Rossi had scored 12 goals in 30 league appearances, along with three goals in eight Champions League appearances.

At international level, Rossi represented Italy at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, collecting thirty appearances and scoring seven goals at senior level between 2008 and 2014.

Along with Mario Balotelli and Daniele De Rossi, he is Italy's all-time top scorer in the FIFA Confederations Cup, with two goals.

After his father died in 2010, Rossi began to wear the number 49, which was the year of his father's birth.

The 2010–11 season proved to be his breakthrough season, as he scored 32 goals in 56 appearances in all competitions, helping the club to a fourth-place finish in La Liga, scoring 18 goals, which qualified them for the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League, also helping Villarreal to the semi-finals of the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League that season, scoring 11 goals, and the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey.

In January 2011, he signed a contract extension with Villarreal until 2016.

An anterior cruciate ligament injury on Rossi's right knee that he picked up in the 3–0 loss against Real Madrid on 26 October 2011 caused Rossi to be out for six months.

Rossi re injured his anterior cruciate ligament of right knee in training on 13 April 2012, and was out for a further 10 months.

At the end of his 6 year stay with Villarreal, he had scored 82 goals in 192 games in all competitions and became the club's all time top scorer.

After 10 years of scoring his final goal for Villarreal in October 2011 in a match against Real Zaragoza, his record was surpassed by Gerard Moreno on 11 August 2021, after he scored a goal in the 2021 UEFA Super Cup match against Chelsea.

On 21 May, the final day of the 2012–13 Serie A season, Rossi made his debut for Fiorentina as a substitute in a 5–1 win over Pescara.

On 4 January 2013, Fiorentina came to an agreement with Villarreal for the transfer of Rossi for a fee of approximately €11.8 million.

On 7 January, Fiorentina held a press conference unveiling Rossi, where it was revealed the player had signed a four-year contract containing a €35 million release clause.

On 26 August, Rossi scored his first goal in 23 months in Fiorentina's opening match of the 2013–14 Serie A season – a 2–1 defeat of Catania.

On 20 October, Rossi inspired Fiorentina to a 4–2 come from behind win over rivals Juventus, netting a 14-minute hat-trick that condemned Juve to their first defeat in Florence for 15 years.

In 2014, he switched back to the number 22 jersey.

On 5 January 2014, Rossi was substituted in Fiorentina's match against Livorno as he suffered a second-degree sprain of his medial collateral ligament in his right knee.

The blow was dealt by Leandro Rinaudo, who tackled Rossi from behind in a manner so dirty that he drew international condemnation.

Up to this point Rossi had been the leading goal scorer in Serie A with 14 goals in 18 league appearances.

Born in the United States, Rossi spent most of his career in Europe with Villarreal and Fiorentina, in addition to spells with other clubs in England, Italy and Spain, before returning to his country of birth to join Real Salt Lake for a single season in 2020.

On 1 December 2020, his daughter was born.

When offered a spot on the youth team of Parma, Rossi (then 12) and his father moved to Italy until Manchester United bought his contract when he was 17.