United have Rossi option

Red Devils can buy-back Italian striker

By Andrew Scurr   Last updated: 1st August 2007

Rossi Villarreal Italy

Rossi: Could return to United

We have put in a clause in the contract, so maybe he will come back to us at some stage.

Ferguson on Rossi
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Manchester United will have the option to buy-back Giuseppe Rossi in the future, manager Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed.

Villarreal have signed Rossi for £6million after the Italian Under 21 striker decided he needed regular first-team football this season.

Rossi has signed a six-year deal with Villarreal and will replace former United striker Diego Forlan at the Spanish club.

The 20-year-old could find himself back at Old Trafford in a few years after Ferguson confirmed the clause in the contract.

Ferguson did his best to try and persuade Rossi to stay, but is content with the option to bring him back to United in the future.

"We have put in a clause in the contract, so maybe he will come back to us at some stage," Ferguson told MUTV.

"We wish Giuseppe well and we know he will do well at Villarreal.

"It was a difficult decision to let him leave. I had several meetings with him to try and convince him that he would get plenty of football with us this season and all he needed was a bit of patience.

"But, having been on loan last season, he wanted first-team football all the time."