Ferguson to bring Rossi back in January
Sir Alex Ferguson has branded Giuseppe Rossis loan spell at
Newcastle a wasted exercise.
Rossi was allowed to join the Magpies to further his footballing
education with Ferguson believing he would be a regular member of
Glenn Roeders squad.
Instead, the promising 19-year-old has made just six Premiership
appearances and four of those were as a late substitute.
Rossi has not been seen in league combat since completing the full
90 minutes in the home defeat to Sheffield United on November 4.
And, with his own striking resources stretched to breaking point,
Ferguson will call time on the Italian Under-21 stars spell in the
north-east at the beginning of next month.
"Giuseppe will come back to us because he is just not getting
enough football at Newcastle," said Ferguson.
"The understanding we had with them was that he would play more
games. Every manager is subject to their own opinions on players,
so I dont want to say too much about that. But we could have done
with him here, so he might as well come back to us."
Rossi will return at a time when Henrik Larsson is about to
arrive.
The legendary Swede may be 35 but most think he will have an
instant impact at United, even though he has never played in
England before.
Ferguson has not been put off by Larssons age, knowing the striker
has kept himself in the peak of condition throughout his
career.
And, it has not gone unnoticed by the United boss that Larsson is
only the same age as Teddy Sheringham was when he left Old Trafford
in 2001, since when the veteran forward has gone on to amass
another 171 Premiership appearances for Tottenham, Portsmouth and
West Ham.
"Some players look after themselves very well, so their age
confuses you in terms of what you see on the football field," said
Ferguson.
"I let Teddy go five years ago when he got an offer from Tottenham
I told him he would be stupid to turn down. He has played for two
other clubs since then, which is amazing."
Having decided to pursue no more striking options now Larssons
arrival has been secured, Ferguson will instead concentrate on
strengthening his midfield when the transfer window opens next
month.
Another bid for Owen Hargreaves is possible, even though the
England international has suffered a setback in his recovery from a
broken leg.
Further Ferguson interest in the 25-year-old is not likely to be
well received by Bayern Munich, who were so angry with Uniteds
pursuit of the player at one stage they threatened to report the
Red Devils to FIFA.
However, the Scot does not appear too worried by that.
"We are not sitting on our backsides," Ferguson said of Uniteds
general transfer situation. "There could be another
development."
As for Hargreaves? "I dont know what the situation is," he
said.
"I have read some things about his injury but you never usually get
the full story that way. Besides, I dont want to upset those poor
Germans. They are very fragile."
