Rossi joins Levante on loan from Fiorentina until end of season
Giuseppe Rossi finally has his move.
La Liga bottom dweller Levante has signed Rossi on loan from Fiorentina until the end of the season, subject to a medical, the Spanish club announced Friday.
(Courtesy: LevanteUD)
"Levante and Fiorentina have reached an agreement in principle for the loan of Giuseppe Rossi until the end of the season, subject to him successfully coming through a medical examination" the team statement read. "The player is set to arrive in Valencia this afternoon."
Rossi, 28, who had struggled to break into Fiorentina's starting lineup this season, announced his intention to leave Tuscany on Thursday in a series of tweets.
"Football is life for me, and if I can't play, I can never be happy," he said. "I hope you and the Fiorentina fans can understand why I want to smile again."
Related: Giuseppe Rossi intends to leave Fiorentina
It's a return to Spain for Rossi, who suited up for Villarreal between 2007 and 2013. He scored 54 goals in 136 league appearances for the Yellow Submarine before joining Fiorentina.
In his first season with La Viola, Rossi roared to the top of the Serie A scoring chart. He tallied 16 goals in his first 21 games during the 2013-14 campaign, right up until he tore his ACL. Another injury to the same knee kept him out of further action the following year.
Rossi has managed to stay healthy this season, but Fiorentina manager Paulo Sousa has opted to keep Nikola Kalinic and Josip Ilicic in a two-man strike force.
The Italy international will hope to play enough at Levante, currently bottom of La Liga with 14 points through 20 matches, to convince Antonio Conte of a call-up before Euro 2016.
Rossi's last appearance for the Azzurri came in a pre-World Cup friendly against Ireland in May 2014.