I can’t have been the only one to feel a little disappointed reading Sir Alex Ferguson’s quotes in the News of the World regarding striker Federico Macheda. I’m sure that most Manchester United fans have nothing but fond memories regarding their young Italian striker. Who can forget his appearance against Aston Villa on 5 April 2009? The game was tied at 2-2, but Macheda broke the deadlock in the third minute of extra time with a fierce curling effort from inside the area.
Macheda’s goal won the game and turned the title-race back in Manchester United’s favour. At the time the youngster was regarded as a saviour and he’s still held in high esteem amongst fans.
Thanks to a certain Javier Hernandez, however, Macheda didn’t get much of a look in this season and was shipped off to Sampdoria on loan for the rest of the season. Macheda has impressed sporadically whilst on loan, even whilst the Italian club have been battling relegation. Sampdoria are currently 18th in Serie A and there’s a real chance they’ll face the drop this season.
Despite Macheda’s knack for important goals and raw potential, it seems that he’s definitely on his way out of Old Trafford. Sir Alex Ferguson told the News of the World: “We are trying to convert Macheda’s loan to Sampdoria into a sale, otherwise we’ll look elsewhere.”
With the recall of Tom Cleverley, Danny Welbeck and Mame Diouf all set to occur at the season’s end, it seems there simply won’t be any room for Macheda at United. Despite the necessity of his sale, I can’t help but feel a little disappointed that he wasn’t granted more opportunities at Manchester United.
United aren’t exactly a club that are short of a few talented youngsters, but Macheda had made himself stand out somewhat by producing the goods when needed for the first-team. Who knows, if the 19-year-old had been left to develop at Old Trafford, in a few years time he could have ended up being as important to this team as Chicharito (22-years-old) currently is.
But Sir Alex deems his future to be elsewhere. My hope is that his exit from Old Trafford doesn’t come back to bite Manchester United.
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Where has Sir Alex ‘said’ he is keen to sell Kiko?
Not nonesense from the News of the World!
Can anbody provide links to Sir Alex actually saying he wants to sell him?