Failed Wonderkid #1- Federico Macheda

Biodata

Full Name: Federico Macheda

Nationality: Italian

Date of Birth: 22nd August 1991

Position: Striker

Current Club: Panathinaikos (Greece)

Current Market Price: 1.00mil Euro (Updated on Dec 18 2019)

Highest Market Price: 3.50mil Euro (Feb 2011)

Former Clubs:

2008-2014 Manchester United

2011 Sampdoria (loan)

2012 Queens Park Rangers (loan)

2013 Stuttgart (loan)

2013-2014 Doncaster Rovers (loan)

2014 Birmingham City (loan)

2014-2016 Cardiff City

2016 Nottingham Forest (loan)

2016-2018 Novara

Achievement:

Manchester United

2009-2010 EFL League Cup

Career

Imagine scoring an amazing winning goal in your senior debut in the prime Manchester United shirt, you are always destined to gain extra attention from the media and the fans. Imagine you are handed your first start in Manchester United shirt in the FA Cup semi-final against a strong Everton side at the age of 17. The world was at his feet when Federico Macheda burst onto the scene with his stunning goal against Aston Villa in 2009. He carries the hope of the future of Manchester United’s frontline for the upcoming seasons. Even after losing Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez in the same transfer window, Sir Alex Ferguson refused to go big in the transfer market because of him. However, his demise in his Manchester United careers is as rapid as he burst into the scene.

When Macheda’s game time in Manchester United is getting limited, loaning out is the best option to prevent his progression get stalled. However, he insisted that he wants to return to his home nation when Sir Alex Ferguson prefer him to stay in England so that he can monitor his progress. Turns out, Macheda went on loan to Sampdoria to replace Milan bound Antonio Cassano. Unfortunately, his loan spell at Sampdoria is proved to be unfruitful and Sampdoria was relegated in the very same season. He only registered one goal in Coppa Italia and no goals and assists in Serie A. At that moment, his career is starting to fall from the cliff. He returned to his parent club and started his nomadic loan spell in several clubs in such as Queens Park Rangers, Stuttgart and Doncaster Rover. However, none of these spells proved to be a success. Even though he had a brief renaissance in his loan spell in Birmingham, he was still could not impress his parent club to give him a chance.

After several loan spells, Manchester United decided to release him in 2014. His former manager in United’s reserve, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer pick him up in the newly relegated Cardiff City on a free transfer. Things started relatively well as Macheda scored twice in his debut in Cardiff City shirt. However, this proved to be the only things that he could remember during his spell in the Welsh-based club. His appearance has dramatically decreased after the appointment of Paul Trollope as the new Cardiff City manager. Even his short loan spell in Nottingham Forest could not resurrect his career in England. Two years later, he went back to Italy to join Serie B side, Novara Calcio.

He slowly regained his scoring form in Italy and in September 2018, Macheda was picked up by Greek club Panathinaikos on a free after his contract with Novara Calcio expired. Since he joined Panathinaikos, he had registered 16 goals and 5 assists in 42 matches. Even though these stats are not staggering, this was the best performance in his entire career. Still aged 28, he has time to prove the doubters wrong. But one thing for sure, he would not reach the height that he destined to be when he was a teenager in England.

Verdict

Disappointment rate: 7/10. Not really a world-beater that he destined to be when he was a teenager. Slowly picked up his form in Greece but it is still a long way to go to return to the top league in European football.