OF COURSE THEY WILL - why would and should we get rid of the cream of our home-grown crop?? its ridiculous to even think we will let Rossi go - especially to a team in decline - plus im sure it will not meet our new shrewd-transfer market standards. Rossi coming back in the summer or next winter maybe, would be as good if not better than Larrson's arrival. this was a perfect loan move as we threw him into the lions den and he came out fighting. Im proud of him. Well done Giusseppe!!! cant wait to see him in a red shirt next season.

Rather than splashing out on Owen who's injured most of the time and might lose his acceleration due to injuries and age, I'd recall Rossi. Not as quick, but younger, more technically gifted and a better finisher from what I've seen of him. And he would free cash for other positions as well.

He HAS to come back. If we let either him or Gerard Pique leave, it would be football suicide. They are two gems who I expect to be a full part of the first-team squad next season. For me, Rossi has to be given the No.10 shirt as an added show of faith in him.

i hope he gets a chance, he has scored whenever given the chance at united, newcastle and now parma. the fact that he has attracted interest from teams like juve and barca show what a prospect he is, and he should be given the chance next season. i feel one of our strikers will be shown the exit door in the summer (possibly saha due to injuries or maybe smith although i hope not) which means the void should be filled by rossi. also i dont think ole will play as much next season, not as a striker anyway.

Can I suggest to others that they look at the Parma website where they show highlights of games very soon after play finishes, including goals scored by Rossi. He is well thought of in Italy. One recent last minute winner was a "Rooneyesque" volley from outside the box.

Joe the Red is coming home in the summer, that's 100% certain.

He's bound to say the right things when interviewed in Italy but he's always made it clear he has un-finished business at United and Fergie has always spoken of him as a future star at the club.

Besides after United beat Roma 7-1, only for Roma to beat Inter, the runaway leaders in Serie-A, 4 nil the following weekend, where would you choose to play your football?

I hope Rossi comes back and does the business for us, he obviously has the talent and this stint in Italy should have done him the world of good and really helped him with his confidence which I think was lacking a bit when he turned out for the first team earlier this year. Hopefully scoring goals in a top league will show him that he can command a place in our first team because it must be quite daunting for young players coming in alongside such established names such as Scholes, Rooney, Ronaldo etc.

One of the TV stations in Italy aired a brief interview with Rossi after last Wednesday game.
Rossi said that he is more suited to the Italian game than the English one because its more technical and less physical. When asked about his future, he said that at the moment he is only focused on saving Parma from relegation and did not give any indications about next season. Then he conceded that the food in Parma is better than in Manchester but he would support United in their game vs Milan.
My feeling is that Rossi is enjoying his spell in Italy and might be tempted to stay there. However Fergie may have other ideas..

What I forgot to add was that much as I'd love to see them here next season, I fear that now that they've tasted regular football in their homelands, they'd be reluctant to play in the reserves in a foreign country. I hope I'm wrong and that Sir Alex takes care of both situations as only he knows and convinces them that they are both cornerstones of United's future.

We definitely need him back (IMO he's a better bet than Owen), but the thing that concerns me is that he sounds worryingly comfortable over in Italy. I just hope that come June he doesn't decide that Italy is where he wants to stay. In a way, the same goes for Pique. From what bits of La Liga I've seen this season, he certainly doesn't look outclassed, even against top quality opposition. I suppose he (like Jonny Evans) will have weigh up just where he's going to be in United's defensive pecking order -- after a season in La Liga it won't do him any good being back in United Reserves.

Rossi with Rooney and Ronaldo will be the future of United he is every bit as talented but small. Patience is all that required if it werent for the freaks that are Rooney and Ronaldo we wouldnt even expect Rossi to be in the team yet but now some are writing him off because at 19 he is out on loan. The only other player to make it at United so young was Giggs. Those three aside Becks Scholes Nev etc etc all learned there trade in the reserves and on loan. Rossi might take another year or two but once he gets there he will be a real star.

Mick...spot on about Joe Red coming back.
We have apparantly already turned down 4.5million for him from Barcelona!
Would like to see Pique's return also as I rate him, so hope he can tolerate life as squad man for a season or two.

Maybe it's the Italian game that needs a change. United should never part with Rossi because he is a known quantity and quality. The idea of sending certain players on loan does good at times,i.e. Ben Foster, but Rossi should have been kept. United seemed so reluctant this season to try young talent.

Rossi grew up in New Jersey so is more American than Italian - so I'm not sure the argument that he's more at home in Italy holdds up. I'd be amazed if he didn't want to return to United. He's the best vision of any player to come thru the ranks since scholes. He probably has mopre chance of first team action at Old Trafford next year than Pique, unfortunately.

There's a Giggs-sized hole in our squad just waiting to be filled by Rossi. I'm sure everyone's noticed that Giggs has played as many games as an advanced central midfielder as he has on the left wing. And I reckon that's exactly where Fergie sees Rossi slotting in next season.

Being left footed, he can also operate on the left side of "the 3 R's" behind a loan striker in a 4-2-3-1.

Rossi's pace over 5 yards, impeccable technique and eye for a pass means he will be a natural in the type of "total football" we've been playing recently. He will be a big player for us next season, mark my words.

As for Pique, I'd like to seem him loaned out to a Premiership club next season, hopefully Sunderland. I would love to see him and Evans play a season together. The big crowds the mackems attract (not to mention being paid in sterling!) should be more than enough to convince him his future is playing for in the Premiership.

Do people think fergie is going to try and groom him into another scholes or keep him as a striker? he does possess similar characteristics as the magician and fergie has also compared him to scholes numerous times. i feel if he and rooney were our 2 main strikers we would lack a bit of height - saying that we have never had a tall striker have we?

I would be very surprised if Rossi comes back to United or, more to the point, he ever makes it in the Prem, never mind one day hold down a permanent place as a forward.

He just doesn't have the physique to lead the line.

For two seasons in the reserves he was head-and-shoulders (okay not literally!) above every one else there scoring hat-tricks and wonder goals galore.

This should've been his breakthrough season yet he was sent on loan.

And remember too that the beginning of the season Ruud had gone, Smith was out and Ole was still coming back with no-one really knowing what to expect from him.

So why was he Rossi sent away?

Well he played in the pre-season in South Africa and was poor against Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs (twice). Back in Britain he played v Celtic and probably had his first goal chances in that game. In the next game (v Preston) he was bounced around like a pinball by the their first team - admittedly so was the rest of the United youngsters. It was literally a case of boys versus men and Preston were in no mood to be embarrassed. I know Rossi played in one more game v Macclesfield but I can't remember what happened there. The first-team players then came back for the game v Porto in Amsterdam.

So, with only the injury-prone Saha as a recognised forward, Fergie still saw fit to send Rossi to Newcastle to get some much-needed experience playing at this different level. Yet then Newcastle with all their injury woes upfront hardly gave him a game!

There must've been a reason for that.

I sincerely hope he makes it at United as he is a very skilful player, but I¿m beginning to feel that his size is against him in such a physical league. I don't remember too many pint-sized footballers making it in a forward position in the Prem. Maybe Zola, but can't think of too many others.

Hope I¿m wrong with Rossi though.

Good forum this. Been reading it for a while. Many intelligent postings. And many provocative! Anyway, just feel like saying that Rossi fits the bill for the future United. Movement, vision and skill. Of course he loves life in Italy, he plays regularly in Serie A, and scores. But as he knows, as the Imperial Lord Fergie knows, and as we all should know, this is just a part of his footballing education. He will be back in Manchester, and soon he will be enjoying life even more. BTW - talk of getting rid of Louis Saha is talk of rubbish. Yes, Louis Saha is injury proned, but you will not find a much better suited player to the United style of play, when fit. What we need is an extra up front striker to share the burden. Maybe that is Rossi, but I think not. His positions will be one of the three in the 4-2-3-1-system that has worked wonders of lately.

Mick is right about Rossi fillings Giggs boots.
Rossi is not a winger as Giggs is often labeled to be. But in the last few seasons Giggs has learned to play in other roles and it seems that Giggs' new role fits Rossi perfectly.

I think the simple answer to the question that people are asking about why Rossi was not kept at OT this season is this;

Rooney & Ronaldo are still learnig about the game & to have Rossi playing alongside them would mean too much inexperience in the front line ..along with the experience that Rossi will get this season of dissapointment (lack of games at Newcastle) and a relegation battle in a very technical league, Rooney & Ronaldo will be much more equipped to give the lad help & advice next season as they will have learned so much about pressure from lack of form, dealing with hostile crowds and chasing trophies on all fronts this season.

Ferguson has been very patient & clever in not rushing this future united regular into the first team

Rick, that's a fairly considered opinion and you put your case well. But I do think you are wrong.

I was also disappointed at the poor start Rossi made to the season. But I think this was just a dip in form at an unfortunate time for him. From his first game on tour he just looked a yard off the pace, nothing like the player he's been for the reserves. As we've seen with Wayne Rooney, these things do happen to young players, it was just really bad timing for Rossi and meant that SAF didn't see enough to risk keeping him as part of our first-team squad.

As for Newcastle, this was at a time when their incompetent manager was obssessd with playing a "small-man, big-man" combo up front and the "small-man" role was ear-marked for Martins, Newcastle's big-name signing of last summer. Whenever Rossi did get a start he impressed and showed that he knew where the net was.

As for his loan to Parma, the game is slightly slower-paced in Italy but Italian defences are stil very robust and effective, so scoring a goal every second-game, playing for relegation contenders is an impressive haul.

Even at reserve level Rossi has had to cope with physical players, often playing on terrible pitches to boot. And, while he is short, he is stockily built, has a low centre of gravity and seems stronger than he looks.

You mention Zola, I would add players like Juninho, Aaron Lennon and Lionel Messi (who scored a goal reminiscent of another magnificent short footballer recently, check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkIxSlS9XVg)

If you're good enough, you're tall enough!

I don't think the question is do we want him back, but rather does he want to come back. If his team stays up, I doubt it and this would be a great loss as the boy has real talent and will be ready to make the break through just as we are in the market for a striker.

Well said Mick.

mick...... you missed the ginger prince !!

Hi Mick.

Your first comments hadn't yet come up when I did mine so I missed them!

I agree with you. In the present 4-2-3-1 system, Rossi could fit into the Giggs role.

But it's obviously not a system we can play all the time - but that's for another day.

And thanks for remembering about Juninho; great player and someone that Fergie could also use as an example for Rossi to emulate.

The other two you mention (Lennon and Messi) I think tend to like the flanks more. And yes, I did see that goal by Messi! Brilliant! I think he really came of age the other day when he scored a hat-trick v Real Madrid.

Speaking of Giggs, I'm loving it that he's been given this role at the moment.

Last season, after Keane was gone and Smith was out and Fletcher was dropped (after he FAC defeat at L'pool - I think) Giggs found himself in midfield with O' Shea.
And - well at least when the team was going forward - he did pretty well. So much so that Fergie was saying that Giggs had new lease of life, it was a great position for his skills and he would not me used so much on the wings this season.

Well with the purchase of Carrick and the return of Scholes, there was Giggs on the wing again this season! I was wondering how he felt about that seeing that he said that he preferred the middle as he saw so much more of the ball there.

Admittedly at the beginning of the season Giggs was on fire too from the wing just as was Ronaldo.

Still it's great seeing him playing where he is right now.

And how funny was it on Saturday listening to Mark Lawrenson on the BBC saying that he didn't know where Giggs was playing, nor did the Watford defenders, as they just couldn't pick him up!

The BBC pre-match line-up still had Rooney up front with Smith. Didn't they see the math v Roma the previous Wednesday?

On last word from me on Rossi.

When I saw him playing v Burton Albion, in the FA Cup last season, I was wondering if Fergie would take a chance on him up front no matter what.

By that I mean if he was willing to play him week-in week-out even if he struggled.

He did it with Darren Fletcher who has now played about 150 games for United and most of which were forgettable.

I am a big Rossi fan, I like watching skilful players, and would like him to stay and be given a chance.

A L-O-N-G chance!