During this still ongoing offseason, many important players, like German striker Mario Gomez or Spanish right-wing Joaquin, have already joined Fiorentina. These signings will improve  what was already a good team, which impressed many experts during the last Serie A tournament. 

But if you walk down the streets of Florence and if you step into a bar, is not uncommon to hear Viola supporters claiming Giuseppe Rossi to be the real breakthrough addition for the upcoming season. 

In fact, although he had already joined Fiorentina from Villareal in January 2013, he spent the rest of the season trying to recover from a terrible double injury followed by a one-year stop, resulting in only a few minutes played during the last Serie A. 

Now, approaching the next football season, Viola supporters are convinced that Pepito could be the “old-but-brand-new” talented top player which can heal their homesickness after the recent departure of Jovetic. They think Rossi will be the one to drive Fiorentina towards a brilliant season. 

But let’s take a step back now, to understand why Viola supporters want him back so much. Giuseppe Rossi was born in Teaneck, USA, in 1987 from Italian parents and only reached Italy in 2000, to play with Parma's young team as a forward/wing. 

Then, in 2004, he was sold to Manchester Utd for 200,000 pounds as one of the most promising young talents around Europe and after many caps and goals with the Red Devil's second team, he scored during his very first match in Premier League against Sunderland. 

He was then loaned to Parma in January 2007, to have the chance of  playing with more consistency in a competitive league. 

Pepito, with 9 goals and 4 assists in only 20 caps, strongly contributed to avoid Parma’s relegation in Serie B and confirmed his talent, and the whole range of his skills (including super-fast dribblings, free kicks, and deadly shoots and lobs), to Italian experts and talent scouts. 

Surprisingly, in 2007, despite many Italian football teams aiming for him, he signed for Villareal, where he spent the best part of his career so far. 

In the “Yellow Submarine” team he further confirmed his good feeling with goals (82 in 192 caps, including European matches) and assists, contributing to the surprising second place of Villareal in Liga 2007-08. 

But unfortunately, bad times were just around the corner. In fact in October 2011 and April 2012 he was knee-injured twice and was forced to more than a 1-year stop to recover, losing the possibility to play Euro 2012 with Italy. 

In the meantime, without his contribution, Villareal was relegated to Liga Adelante and, in January 2013, he was sold for 15m euro to Fiorentina, which was fascinated by his skills since 2007 and gave him the possibility to fully recover from the double injury with a 4-years contract and a lot of patience and care. 

In the new 2014 Fiorentina team, led by Vincenzo Montella, he can play as a forward or left-wing in either a 3-5-2 or a 4-3-3, thereby perfectly fitting in the free spot left after Jovetic transfer. 

In the few friendly matches played by Fiorentina so far, he has become the top scorer of the team, showing to be almost completely recovered after such a long stop. 

That is why Viola supporters keep on claiming “in Pepito we trust” for the next season, and even Italy’s trainer, Cesare Prandelli, can’t wait for his full recovery to have the chance of adding another top player to the Italian rooster for the next world cup in Brazil 2014.