Giuseppe Rossi intends to leave Fiorentina

With a tinge of regret, Giuseppe Rossi announced Thursday on Twitter that he must leave Fiorentina to find more playing time.

Rossi has started just four Serie A matches this campaign, despite recovering from consecutive knee injuries that robbed him of large chunks of the past two seasons.

Related - Agent: Giuseppe Rossi set to leave Fiorentina in January

"First of all, I'm disappointed because I owe a debt to the Fiorentina fans," the 28-year-old said in a series of tweets. "I gave the maximum in therapy and training because I wanted to continue to give you emotions on the pitch.

"But it's hard to do that when there are few opportunities. Football is life for me, and if I can't play, I can never be happy. I hope you and the Fiorentina fans can understand why I want to smile again.

"I will always keep La Viola in my heart, and I'll never forget the goosebumps you gave me on Sundays."

Rossi is reportedly on the verge of completing a transfer to La Liga relegation battler Levante. The move would mark a return to Spain for the Italy international. He played with Villarreal between 2007 and 2013, upon which time he moved to Fiorentina.

His career in Tuscany took off, scoring 16 goals in 21 appearances before tearing his ACL. He spent more than a year on the sidelines, only to damage the same knee ligaments at the start of last season.

This campaign began without any injury concerns, but Paulo Sousa, who replaced Vincenzo Montella as manager in the offseason, had other plans. Nikola Kalinic and Josip Ilicic ran with their opportunities in attack, scoring 19 Serie A goals between them, and, by extension, keeping Rossi out of the starting lineup.