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Federico “Kiko” Macheda, or Federico Macheda as he is simply called, is an Italian footballer who started out his career with Italian club Lazio. He now plays for Premier League side Manchester United and is recognised as one of the finest prospects at the club. Federico Macheda plays a striker for Manchester United. Even though he started out his career with Lazio, he never made any first team appearance for the club. Even before he could do so, Manchester United showed their interest in the 16-year-old Federico Macheda and signed him as a trainee in September 2007.

He first made his debut for the under 18 side of Manchester United in a match against Barnsley a few days after joining Manchester United. He went on to become one of the best players of the reserve team that season after making 21 appearances and scoring 12 goals in the process. It took him only a year to be promoted to the reserve team of Manchester United. He made his debut for the same on February 2008 in the reserve match against Liverpool.

His impressive performances led him to Manchester United offering a new contract for the 17-year-old, and he signed the professional terms on August 2008. Even though he had just signed a new professional contract, Federico Macheda continued making appearances for the reserve team. However, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said that Federico Macheda was making incredible progress and would be soon included into the first team.

Finally, Federico Macheda was selected for the match against Aston Villa in April 2009, but he was included only in the substitute’s bench.

This decision proved to be the major turning point of his career, as he was called to the present Manchester United for the first time when the club was trailing to Aston Villa by 2-1. However, immediately after getting onto the pitch, Cristiano Ronaldo equalised for Manchester United. Federico Macheda’s moment came in the third minute of injury time when he scored a goal that turned out to be the winner. It also went a long way into helping Manchester United retain the title.

This made Federico Macheda a super star overnight and he started in plenty of games in the following season. In the following months, Federico Macheda made appearances in the FA Cup semi-final and in many other competitions. He made his Champions League debut on November 3, 2008 against CSKA Moscow. Federico Macheda represented Manchester United in some of the key competitions like the League Cup.

However, at the start of the 2010 season, Federico Macheda worried about the lack of proper first-team opportunities and was consequently loaned to Sampdoria. The return to Italy was also done with a view of increasing the experience of the young player. He made 14 appearances for Sampdoria before announcing that he will be returning to the Manchester United fold at the end of the 2011 season. So far, he has made 16 appearances for Manchester United and scored four goals in the process.