'He treats me like Ronaldo' - Sir Alex Ferguson makes classy gesture to former Manchester United star

Sir Alex Ferguson is set to coach at a farewell match to celebrate the retirement of former Manchester United player Giuseppe Rossi.

Rossi, 38, announced his retirement earlier this week and a farewell game will be played in Florence, Italy next month, which will see the legendary Ferguson return to the touchline.

Ferguson signed Rossi in 2004 when he was just 17 and he was tipped to have a bright future. The Italian was eventually sent on loan to Newcastle and Parma to gain experience, but he failed to make a breakthrough at United and was sold to Villarreal in the summer of 2007.

Rossi went on to make 363 senior appearances and he scored 132 goals. He won 30 caps for Italy's national team and announced his decision to retire on Wednesday.

A farewell game will be held in Italy to celebrate Rossi and Ferguson will attend. "I am very proud to say that my first professional coach, Sir Alex Ferguson, will be there," said Rossi.

"I'm very happy. He will be there as a coach, too. He was my first coach, I signed [for United] when I was 17. I only spent three years with him and played little, but he immediately said yes.

"That shows the kind of person he is. I didn’t do much at United, but he treats me like a Ronaldo."

Rossi also announced his former Fiorentina teammates and some Serie A legends would play in the farewell game, including Luca Toni, Antonio Cassano, Sebastien Frey and Borja Valero.

Despite Rossi's huge popularity in Florence, he was most prolific during his time with Villarreal, as he contributed 82 goals and 25 assists in 192 appearances for the Spanish club.

Ferguson gave Rossi his debut for United in November 2004 against Crystal Palace at Old Trafford in the League Cup, replacing David Bellion in the final