“I did little at United but he treats me like Cristiano Ronaldo” - Ex-Manchester United player salutes Sir Alex Ferguson as he announces testimonial

Former Manchester United forward Giuseppe Rossi says Sir Alex Ferguson treats him like Cristiano Ronaldo, despite doing little for the club. The Italian forward arrived at Old Trafford from Parma in the summer of 2004.

He spent three seasons with the Red Devils, registering just four goals and one assist from 14 games across competitions. The player initially moved to Newcastle United on loan in his third campaign, before returning to Parma on a temporary deal in the middle of the season.

Rossi left Manchester United in the summer of 2007 to permanently move to Villarreal. The 38-year-old last played for Italian third division side SPAL, where he retired in the summer of 2023.

The Italian's testimonial will now take place in Florence on March 22, and he has already announced that many of his former teammates will take part. Interestingly, Sir Alex Ferguson will reportedly manage one of the teams for the friendly.

Speaking recently, as cited by GBNews, Rossi was full of praise for the legendary Scot.

“Ferguson will be there as a coach. He was my first coach, I signed when I was 17. I only did three years with him and played little, but he immediately said yes and this shows what kind of person he is. I did little at United but he treats me like Cristiano Ronaldo, who has scored 1000 goals,” said Rossi.

Rossi shared the pitch with Cristiano Ronaldo just seven times for Manchester United, registering four wins and three draws.

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How many goals did Cristiano Ronaldo score for Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson?

Cristiano Ronaldo and Sir Alex Ferguson

Among all the coaches in his career, Cristiano Ronaldo played the most games under Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United. The legendary Scot roped in the Portuguese as an unknown face in the summer of 2003 from Sporting.

Sir Alex Ferguson handcrafted CR7 into a lethal goalscoring machine, with the player registering 118 goals and 61 assists from 292 games under the Scot. He won three Premier League titles and the Champions League, among others, during his first stint with the Red Devils.

Ronaldo left Manchester United in the summer of 2009 to move to Real Madrid. After nine seasons at the Santiago Bernabeu and three at Juventus, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner returned to Old Trafford for a second stint in 2021. However, he had a fallout with Erik ten Hag and left for Al-Nassr in December 2022.