Fiorentina: 'Giuseppe Rossi only at 70%'

Fiorentina sporting director Daniele Pradi has declared that Giuseppe Rossi is far from his physical peak despite his superb start to the season.

Rossi leads the Serie A scoring charts early in his first full campaign at Fiorentina, with eight goals in as many league games.

Following the 26-year-old's quick-fire hat-trick in yesterday's 4-2 win over Juventus, Pradi has said that the club are very proud of Rossi's efforts.

He told Radio Anch'io Lo Sport: "Giuseppe is still not in the best shape, he can still improve a lot.

"But we are very proud of him, he is not even at 70% and he is already decisive. He's still a bit behind physically.

"We decided to sign him after talking with [former Villarreal teammates] Gonzalo Rodriguez and Borja Valero. They told us that he was the best they had ever played alongside. That was when the desire to get him was born."

Rossi's treble against Juve on Sunday came in the space of 15 minutes, helping La Viola come from 2-0 down to beat the Bianconeri for the first time since 1998.