It simply highlights the lack of chances afforded to youth players due to toy clubs raising the bar in terms of points required. Januzaj et al will be the next crop to be pushed elsewhere. Rossi is still the most disappointing for me. He was good enough. He was ready. We blocked his process and sent him on failed loans.
Have to agree. It's also sad to see what's happened to his career recently. I'll be thoroughly disappointed if these knee issues limit him forever even though that's what will likely happen.
When we sold Rossi I know that we had Ronaldo coming through to his best, Rooney+Saha+Tevez etc. But did Rossi push through with wanting to leave (like Pique fair enough, made me sad) or was it simply us cutting him off. It's one thing Madrid do really well that United have been shocking at is the whole buy-back clause when selling a player on. Sure you might lose out slightly on the initial fee (but when the hell do United get a good deal there anyway) but it gives you the security of getting them back.
While Rossi was an exceptional talent, he's never been able to really overcome his knee injuries. He would have been just another frequent medical table employee for Manchester United.
Rossi had no chance if you think about it. Saha actually fit for a bit of a stretch, Solskjaer had just finished a 10 goal season even though he retired later that summer, Tevez had just come in, Ronaldo blossoming, Rooney in form. There