Manchester, Sep 23 Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand is planning to open an Italian restaurant called Rosso in the city next month.

It is said that Ferdinand, who is now known as "Chef" is planning a star-studded launch for his new business venture, The Daily Star reports.

According to reports, Rosso will be a partnership between Ferdinand, Manchester entrepreneur Adam Karim and a third partner.

"Adam is the hands on director who will be running the business day to day, but Rio will be having an input on decisions that are made. It will be a 150-seater Italian restaurant with a large bar area with booths for people to come and meet and have drinks after work," Manchester Evening News quoted a spokeswoman for Rosso, as saying.

"We want it to be a really nice, relaxed place for people to come and dine and it's not going to be ridiculously expensive, it will be good food at a good price. The restaurant will be called Rosso, which is Italian for red, because it gives it that authenticity, but is also a bit of a nod to Rio too," the spokeswoman added. (ANI)