Fiorentina striker Giuseppe Rossi will not kick a ball again in 2014, after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his knee.
The 27-year-old has been troubled with injury for much of the past three years, since initially suffering anterior cruciate ligament damage whilst playing for Villarreal against Real Madrid in October 2011. Although he had hoped to recover in time for Euro 2012, he suffered a recurrence of the injury in April which would see him spend a further 10 months on the treatment table.
Despite still recovering from this blow, Fiorentina paid €11million to take him from the Spanish side in January 2013, and he went on to make his debut in May that year. After a good summer Rossi started the 2013-14 campaign in sharp form, and in January he led the Serie A goalscoring charts with 14 goals from just 18 appearances.
However, he then suffered a second degree sprain to the medial collateral ligament in the same knee, which ruled him out until the latter stages of the season. Unfortunately for the former Manchester United youngster, he posed too much of a risk for Cesare Prandelli, who felt he had little choice but to omit the striker from his Italy squad for the World Cup.
Last month it was revealed that Rossi had again injured his knee during training, and Fiorentina have now confirmed that he has undergone arthroscopic surgery and will face at least four months on the sidelines. This means he will not feature for Viola, who lost their opening league match at Roma 2-0 last weekend, until the New Year.
