federico-macheda

It is now three years, three months and seven days since Federico Macheda burst onto the Premier League scene, curling home a stunning and hugely significant winning goal against Aston Villa in the third minute of injury time. The Italian youngster’s Old Trafford effort, forever associated with Manchester United’s 2008/9 title victory, hailed the start of what promised to be a fantastic career. It hasn’t quite worked out like that for Macheda in the intervening years.

Indeed, injury, squad competition, a perceived attitude problem and two disastrous loan spells mean that the former-Lazio player has made almost no career progress since that famous Stretford End goal. And if Macheda’s regression has been disappointing, both to player and manager Sir Alex Ferguson, then it is placed in stark relief with two of the United players who first ran to celebrate with Macheda on the day: Danny Welbeck and Jonny Evans.

Now back at United after a short loan spell with Queens Park Rangers last season, Macheda will go on tour with Ferguson’s first team squad to South Africa, Asia and northern Europe this summer, with the 20-year-old still hoping to make a career at the club. It could well be the Italian’s last chance.

“It’s great to be back at Manchester United,” said Macheda, who played six times for QPR without scoring last season.

“When you go on loan you really understand how important it is to play for this club. I’m really happy to be back and I can’t wait for the start of the season.

“Last season was disappointing. In the first six months I didn’t get a lot of opportunities here so we decided it was best for me to go on loan. When I got to QPR things went a bit wrong, though, as I was feeling my ankle a lot. But now I feel a lot better and want to start the season well. It’s a big season for me.”

It wasn’t supposed to be like this, with Macheda joining QPR during the January transfer window; the Premier League loan that was long-over due. The striker made his Rangers’ début on 3 January as a substitute for Heiðar Helguson – by 28 March Macheda returned to United for treatment after an ankle injury brought his season to a premature end. In between there were just six appearances – three in the Premier league – as new manager Mark Hughes preferred January acquisition Djibril Cissé.

Disappointment at the west London outfit was the second winter loan gone bad for Macheda after the striker returned ‘home’ in 2011 to Sampdoria – seemingly against Ferguson’s wishes. In 16 fixtures with la Samp, Macheda scored just once in a Coppa Italia tie against Udinese. Worse still, Sampdoria’s awful form matched the striker’s with the Genoa-based club relegated to Serie B by the end of the campaign.

Add in numerous injuries and the perception that Macheda doesn’t work quite as hard as United’s coaches might like, and the Italian is surely on the precipice at Old Trafford.

But this summer’s tour, which takes in six games across five countries and over 22,000 miles of travel, could provide Macheda with a fresh career impetus, especially with Michael Owen departed and Dimitar Berbatov’s future still uncertain. It’s an opportunity that the Italian simply must take; one final chance to demonstrate that Ferguson’s faith is not unfounded.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” Macheda told ManUtd.com.

“It’s always great to visit fans in different countries. You meet new people, you see new cities, you experience different cultures. I didn’t know how big the club was around the world when I went away for the first time in 2009. But I was very impressed by Malaysia, China and Korea. We have great support all over the world and I love being part of this team.”

Whether Macheda remains part of the team in the coming season is still open to question though, even if Ferguson praised the Italian’s potential once again earlier this summer. But it is a career that cannot continue to fester; six months in United’s reserves waiting for an opportunity while Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck and Javier Hernández rotate striking duties in the first team can serve neither United, nor player well.

Yet, after failed loans both abroad and in the Premier League neither player nor club’s options are wide. Macheda may find another temporary move within the top division – it is, after all, more likely than the Italian forcing his way into Ferguson’s plans. Equally, the striker cannot afford to be less than first choice at a new club either. It reduces Macheda’s realistic options substantially.

Neither will a sale maximise United’s value in these Glazernomic times, making Macheda’s permanent departure unlikely while the player remains at a low ebb. It leaves fans pondering whether the youngster has regressed from teenage wunderkind to the scraphead in three short years.

Perhaps, not quite yet. But whether Macheda stays at United or departs for pastures new, the coming season promises to the most important in a fledgling career.

Federico Macheda admitted, after his smartly taken double against New England Revolution on Wednesday night, that he is glad to be back at Manchester United. The 19-year-old Italian striker suffered a nightmare goalless loan spell at Sampdoria last season in which i Blucerchiati was relegated from Serie A in the most traumatic circumstances. Yet for the all the teenager’s promise his has been a frustrating fledgling United career; one that may well not take off this season given the competition in Sir Alex Ferguson’s squad.

Aside from doubts about Macheda’s raw ability at the top-level – a perceived lack of pace has not been resolved – and the youth’s immaturity as professional, Macheda is at best fifth choice for the coming season. After all, Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez are now established as Sir Alex Ferguson’s first choice strike pairing, with the Scot likely to use Dimitar Berbatov in rotation and Michael Owen as an impact substitute. Indeed, Owen has claimed that Ferguson will deploy the 31-year-old former Liverpool player more often in the coming campaign.

It is a level of competition that leaves Macheda fighting with returnees Danny Welbeck and Mame Biram Diouf for a place in Ferguson’s planning this season. That all three left on loan only to return in exactly the same squad position says much for the wealth of options that Ferguson now possesses at Old Trafford.

Should United fail to secure at least one high-profile central midfielder this summer, Ferguson is also likely to pack midfield next season – as the Scot often did away from home last campaign – in the knowledge that it is by far the Reds’ weakest part of the team.

Still, Macheda says he has learned much from his chastening experience in Italy – a move the Italian had pushed for and must now live to regret – and realises that the grass is rarely greener away from Manchester.

“I am very happy because I had a difficult six months,” admitted the former Lazio player, who scored no goals in 16 appearances on loan last season.

“I am not scarred by it. You learn a lot from bad experiences. I couldn’t wait to get back here from Italy, even though it is my own country. There is a different mentality in Italy. They don’t see young players like they do in England. They don’t. I grew up as a man. I have another mentality now. When you leave Manchester United, go somewhere else and come back, you realise just how different it all is. It is better to work really hard and I hope to stay here.”

Yet Macheda faces the very real prospect of intermittent appearances in cup competitions followed by lengthy spells in United’s reserve side if he remains at Old Trafford. Ferguson has seemingly told Welbeck that the 20-year-old England player will be a member of United’s squad for the forthcoming season despite Sunderland’s continued interest.

Diouf meanwhile, following an almost equally disastrous loan spell at Blackburn Rovers last season, will be sold if there are any takers. Inconsistency may well leave the Senegalese striker in the same position as Gabriel Obertan; on the fringes and unlikely to ever get a lengthy run in Ferguson’s side.

If the choice comes down to Welbeck and Macheda for a fifth spot in Ferguson’s striking roster this season then it is no easy one for the Scot to make. Each of his young strikers offers much. After all Welbeck had an excellent start to the last campaign with Sunderland, only for injury to break the striker’s rhythm. Six goals in 26 appearances tells only part of Welbeck’s campaign on Wearside, in which he started many games wide left for Steve Bruce’s outfit.

Yet it is Macheda who has the real eye for goal, evidenced by the Italian’s smart double against Revolution at Foxborough’s outstanding Gillette stadium on Wednesday. If Ferguson retains Welbeck it will be for the youngster’s flexibility; yet it is Macheda that offers the match-winning eye for goal.

The question now is whether the kid, who burst onto the scene with a dramatic winner against Aston Villa at Old Trafford two years ago, can rescue his United career. Others – in particular Giuseppe Rossi and Gerard Pique – have gone on to build outstanding careers despite promising starts at Old Trafford that failed to materialise into a starting place. This fact points to a move away if Macheda is to progress in the coming year.

Indeed, even if the youngster continues to find the net in pre-season Macheda will find himself on the outside come the start of the Premier League season in around a month’s time. Much as the Italian has now realised, as many do, that life is far from rosy away from the Old Trafford family the brave decision may be to push for a loan move away.

This time, however, Macheda will achieve much by remaining in England, as Ferguson had pushed the youngster to do last January. In the winter window West Bromwich Albion failed to solidify an initial interest in taking the player on loan amid reports that the youngster had pushed hard for a return to Italy. It’s a mistake that the newly mature Macheda is unlikely to make again.

“Macheda’s finishes were first class,” said United manager Ferguson after Macheda’s strikes against Revolution.

“He is special. At 19 years of age, we still have great hopes for him.”

It is now up to the player to take his chance.

Federico Macheda, Manchester United’s exciting 18-year-old Italian striker has today signed a four-year contract extension with the club. Macheda follows Danny Welbeck in signing an extended – and much improved – professional contract with Sir Alex Ferguson’s side. The Italian under-21 international was a substitute as United beat Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford last night.

“We are delighted by the new four year deal,” the Scot said in a statement on the club’s website, manutd.com.

“Everyone at the club recognises the fantastic talent he has and we hope to see that develop in the next years, so he becomes a well rounded player.”

In an equally bland statement Macheda expressed his delight at the new deal. Not least because he’ll now be able to afford the flash cars, bachelor pad and bling that 18-year-old Premier League footballers seems to love.

“I am very happy to commit my future to Manchester United,” he said.

“I really enjoyed myself last season when I came on and I hope to get more chances like that and contribute to the team’s success.”

Former Manchester United midfielder Gordon Strachan wants youngster Federico Macheda on loan, according to the Scot’s transfer target list. Strachan’s list, exposed in the media this week, includes the 17-year-old Italian alongside several other Premier League strikers. The former-United right-winger, appointed Middlesbrough manager on Tuesday, refused to comment.

Macheda hit the headlines following goals against Aston Villa and Sunderland in successive matches last season. The teenager striker is yet to appear in the Premier League this season following reports of a bust-up with Anderson and a poor attitude at training. However, the former Lazio player started United’s Carling Cup match with Barnsley, Tuesday.

It is doubtful that manager Sir Alex Ferguson will allow Macheda to leave on loan, with no senior cover for strikers Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov and Michael Owen.

Strachan, 52, played nearly 200 games for Untied after signing in 1984 from Aberdeen for £500,000. The ginger midfielder also played in the 1985 FA Cup final win over Everton and took Scotland to the 1986 World Cup, before being sold to Leeds in 1989.

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Italian under-21 manager Pierre Luigi Casiraghi, the former Chelsea striker, has slammed the childish attitude of Manchester United’s 18-year old Federico Macheda. ‘Kiko’, who burst onto the scene with goals against Aston Villa and Sunderland late last season, is yet to figure for United this campaign despite the departures of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez.

“He needs to grow a lot, both on the pitch and off it, if he wants to remain a part of this squad,” said Casiraghi.

“As a player he has many qualities, but they are yet to be expressed fully. If he wants to be a football player, then that is a fun job, but he needs to learn to be a real professional.

“At the moment, that is not the case with Macheda. I say this above all in his own interest. An 18-year-old boy has to throw himself around and give himself completely to the case.

“The job of an Under-21 Coach is also to help the players grow. I told Kiko clear as day, these are the rules and it’s his choice on what to do next.”

Macheda’s role in the United team has not been without controversy this season after a very public spat with team-mate Anderson.

Federico Macheda’s two goals on United’s Asian tour have thrust the young Italian firmly into the first team picture, manager Sir Alex Ferguson claimed yesterday. After a close range effort against Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, Macheda struck a superb goal against FC Seoul in South Korea yesterday. With United having lost two forwards this summer, the teenager has already staked a claim for the fourth striking slot this coming season.

“Macheda’s goal was excellent,” said manager Sir Alex Ferguson after the Seoul match. “The lad has a real chance and his movement is very good. He does well on the shoulder of the last defender and he showed that tonight with the goal he scored.”

Ferguson is not prone to over-hyping young players but the Scot clearly sees a bright future for the Rome-born forward. The 17 year-old, who is a product of Serie A side Lazio’s youth system, came to prominence with a stoppage time winner against Aston Villa in the Premier League last season. Another against Sunderland a week later sealed Macheda’s place in United folklore.

It is the coming campaign that is likely to be the Roman’s breakthrough in professional football. With United seeking to replace the 41 goals scored by Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez, Macheda is likely to be more important to the cause than he could have expected just a few weeks ago.

“If Macheda continues his progress, it will give us a big advantage. Having an extra player like that will do us a world of good,” said Ferguson.

“Macheda is top drawer, a hero in the making, just as Cristiano Ronaldo was. He does not have the lightning reactions of Ronaldo but he is quick around the box and has an eye for goal. It is hard to believe he is just 17.”

While the teenager will probably never possess the devastatingly destructive pace and goals to win games on his own like Ronaldo has in the past three seasons, the Italy Under-19 international’s finishing is reminescent of his reserve team manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Macheda’s rise to prominence is not without controversy though. United paid the player’s former club Lazio a pittance in compensation after his summer 2007 move to Manchester. It’s a move that characterised United’s youth system in recent years – plucking the best young talent from around the world.

“His debut goal for Manchester United is the result of a cattle market where young players are snapped up by rich foreign clubs,” claimed Lazio’s president Claudio Lotito in March.

“It’s unthinkable that a lad of 15 can be bought. Normally these boys are not from wealthy families and they look for alternatives in foreign countries for economic reasons.”

“We knew that he was a great player, we did everything to keep him. We can not allow ourselves to behave in a way which I feel is immoral.”

Immoral or not, nobody at Old Trafford will care if Macheda fires the goals to take United to a fourth successive Premier League title.

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