Despite his ‘hero status’ this youngster has no future with Manchester United:

Given his relative ineffectualness nowadays, it’s easy to forget the immediate impact Federico had when he first arrived at Manchester United. During his first season with the club he impressed with the Under-18s and ended up being their top scorer with 12 goals in 21 appearances. As a result he was upgraded to the Reserves and granted his first professional contract on his 17^th birthday back in August 2008.

He continued to develop at an alarming rate scoring 8 goals in 8 reserve games and earning promotion to the first team. And who can forget his debut game against Aston Villa? With the scores tied at 2-2, Macheda was able to evade his marker and curl in an effort from just inside the penalty box in the third minute of injury time. It was moment that will live on in Manchester United fan’s minds for quite some time and earned Macheda a bountiful amount of good will.

Unfortunately he’d never quite hit those same heights. In 19 appearances (many of which were as a substitute) he scored only 4 goals. But the club believed in him enough to secure him a loan move to Sampdoria. Unfortunately this turned out to be an unmitigated disaster. He scored just one goal during his time in Italy and was part of a side that ended up relegated from Serie A.

It’s difficult to see what he learned or how he progressed during his time at Sampdoria. This background makes his disappointing loan spell at QPR all the more difficult to take.

The trouble is that Neil Warnock oversaw the loan deal before being sacked. QPR making the decision to bring in two more strikers this January has more or less killed off his chances. It’s not like QPR are in a position to take risks. They just can’t afford to gamble on a player of Macheda’s stature and as a result he’s in the middle of yet another poor loan move.

Worries also remain over his attitude. He has taken to Twitter before to engage in rants about not being played, despite the fact that he’s yet to really prove himself. This sense of entitlement wont serve him well at Manchester United.

The truth is that United have too many decent strikers on their books to worry about Macheda. Danny Welbeck is at a similar age, yet significantly more talented. Javier Hernandez provides better movement and scores more goals. Heck, even Dimitar Berbatov can’t get a game despite his technical ability.

If Macheda’s not good enough to start at QPR, he’s certainly not going to trouble the United line-up any time soon. With this in mind, the time’s probably right for him to move on.

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