Federico Macheda

Federico Macheda is a young Italian football player who currently features for the English and the European powerhouse Manchester United. He plays as a striker and is considered one of the most promising young players in Europe. Macheda is nicknamed ‘Kiko’.

Macheda developed at the youth academy of Italian club Lazio and shortly after he turned 16, he was snapped up by Manchester United. He officially joined the English giants as a trainee in September 2007.

Macheda started playing for United’s Under-18 side rightaway and signed his first professional contract with the club in August 2008 on his 17th birthday. On April 2009 he made his debut for the first team against Aston Villa and scored the winner in the third minute of injury time.

Macheda played for United during the rest of the campaign and also was part of the first team in 2009-10 and signed a four-year contract in December 2009. He was sent on loan to Sampdoria in 2011 and he played in 14 league matches for the Genoa club. Macheda then featured on loan for Queens Park Rangers in 2012, playing just three times in the league for the London club.

At the start of the 2012-13 season, Macheda was drafted back into the first team at United by manager Sir Alex Ferguson, but in the summer of 2013 he was farmed out to Doncaster Rovers – again on loan. However, he returned back to the Red Devils after one month because of an injury.