For the sole purpose of assisting one of his former players, Sir Alex Ferguson has returned for a single day.
After almost 27 years in charge of the Red Devils, the legendary manager of Manchester United has been absent from management for more than a decade. He retired in 2013 after a long and successful professional career.
In that span of time, he was responsible for the club’s achievement of 37 trophies, which included 13 league titles and two Champions League accomplishments.
Ferguson, on the other hand, will make a comeback in Italy, almost twelve years after serving as the manager of the Red Devils for the last time.
The former striker has asserted that the 83-year-old will be coaching a team in Giuseppe Rossi’s final match, which will be his final home game.
Rossi’s retirement will be commemorated with a match on March 22 at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, which is owned and operated by Fiorentina.
It is anticipated that a large number of former teammates and Serie A icons will be present, such as Luca Toni, Antonio Cassano, Sebastien Frey, Borja Valero, and Gabriel Batistuta.
Ferguson will be joining them. In 2004, Ferguson signed Rossi, who was still a teenager at the time, to United, which resulted in Rossi leaving Parma.
It was revealed by the former Italy international player, who retired from the sport in 2023, that Ferguson will be working there as a coach. My very first coach, I signed with him when I was 17 years old.
The fact that he accepted my offer so quickly demonstrates the kind of person he is. I had only worked with him for three years and played a small role during that time.
“I did little at United but he treats me like Cristiano Ronaldo, who has scored 1,000 goals.”
After winning the Jimmy Murphy Player of the Year and the Denzil Haroun Reserve Team Player of the Year awards during his first two seasons with the club, Rossi, who was born in the United States, was immediately recognised as a player to keep an eye on when he was placed in the reserves.
After making his first appearance for the senior team, which was against Crystal Palace in a League Cup match in November 2004, Rossi went on to score four goals in a total of fourteen first-team appearances for Manchester United while playing for the club.
Prior to his departure for Villarreal in 2010, he had loan stints with Newcastle and Parma. During his time at the club, he took home the League Cup, which was another accomplishment.
Rossi recalled, while he was being interviewed for the UTD Podcast, how he continues to feel love from the fans.
They have always been there for me, and they continue to do so even now. Despite the fact that I only played 16 games for Manchester United, they continue to show me a great deal of love even to this day.
“It just goes to show how much they love the club. I’m sure David [May] gets stopped just about every single second. They always remember the players, whether you play hundreds of games like David or 16 games like me.
“I came back to train with the guys a year and a half ago the previous year, and people were like, ‘wow, Giuseppe,’ and I was like, ‘you guys still remember me?'” He said. Wow, that’s cool, okay? “I suppose I had to make a little bit of an impression.”
His farewell match has been given the name “Pepito Day,” and the nickname “Pepito” was given to Rossi during the six years that he spent living in Spain.
Additionally, he was seen training with David de Gea, who is currently playing for Fiorentina, indicating that he has been catching up with another former player from United. “Reunited on home turf,” the custodian wrote on Instagram alongside a picture of the two of them together before posting the photo.
Following his departure from Villarreal, Rossi went back to Italy to play for Fiorentina. He retired at the age of 36, having previously played for Genoa, Real Salt Lake City, and the Italian club SPAL.
During his career, Rossi went on to score seven goals for Italy, including two goals at the 2009 Confederations Cup. He played for Italy for a total of thirty matches.
However, this will not be the first time that Ferguson has returned to the dugout since leaving Old Trafford following the conclusion of his time with the club.
A previous instance of his return occurred in 2019, when he participated in a United legends match against Bayern Munich.
In order to commemorate the 20th anniversary of their treble victory in 1999, the Red Devils won the match by a score of 5-0.
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