Federico "Kiko" Macheda (Italian pronunciation: [maˈkɛːda];
born 22 August 1991 in Rome) is an Italian footballer who plays as a
striker for English Premier League club Manchester United. He joined
from Lazio for an undisclosed fee in September 2007.Early career
Macheda
began his football career with Lazio's youth team after being spotted
at the local Atletico Prenestino club in Rome. However, due to Italian
football regulations preventing under-18s from signing professional
contracts, he was not permanently tied to the club, and shortly after
his 16th birthday, he was signed by Manchester United of England, where
regulations permit the signing of players aged 16 and up. Following
his family's relocation to England, he officially joined the club as a
trainee on 16 September 2007.
Manchester United
Macheda
went straight into the Manchester United Under-18 side, and scored the
only goal of the game on his debut, a 1–0 away win over Barnsley on 15
September 2007.
In his first season with the club, he finished as the Under-18s' top
scorer with a total of 12 goals in 21 appearances for the under-18s, and
even made his debut for the reserves on 26 February 2008, when he came
on as a 68th-minute substitute for Gerard Piqué in a 2–0 away defeat
to Liverpool.
On 12 May 2008, Macheda earned a Manchester Senior Cup winners' medal
when he was named as an unused substitute for the 2–0 win over Bolton
Wanderers in the final.
Macheda signed his first professional contract with Manchester United on his 17th birthday in August 2008.In
the 2008–09 season, he continued in the under-18 side, while also
making a few appearances for the reserves. Towards the end of the
season, Macheda enjoyed an extended run in the reserve team, scoring
eight goals in eight games, including a hat-trick in a 3–3 draw with
Newcastle United on 30 March 2009,and he was rewarded by being selected for the first team for the match against Aston Villa on 5 April 2009.With
United 2–1 down heading into the final third of the game, manager Alex
Ferguson substituted Macheda in for Nani just after the hour mark. After
Cristiano Ronaldo equalised for United in the 80th minute, Macheda won
the match with a turn to evade his marker followed by a curling effort
from just inside the penalty area in the third minute of injury time.
Macheda
was named on the bench for United's next two games – first against
Porto in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final,
and then against Sunderland in the league – making his second
appearance for the club in the latter game. Just 46 seconds after
taking to the field in place of Dimitar Berbatov,Macheda
had the ball in the back of the net for the second time in his United
career, deflecting a Michael Carrick shot past Craig Gordon in the
Sunderland goal. With Alex Ferguson opting to rest his big-name players
for the FA Cup semi-final against Everton on 19 April 2009, Macheda was
handed his first start in a Manchester United shirt. However, for the
first time in his United career, Macheda failed to score and was
substituted for Dimitar Berbatov at the start of extra time.
He started his first Premier League game in a 2–0 win over
Middlesbrough on 2 May 2009; he was involved in the build-up to Park
Ji-Sung's goal, but he failed to get on the scoresheet himself and was
substituted ten minutes into the second half.
At the end of his first season in the Manchester United first team,
Macheda was named as the Jimmy Murphy Academy Player of the Year in
recognition of his performances in the under-18s, the reserves and the
first team.Macheda's 2009–10 season began with appearances in the third and fourth rounds of the League Cup, against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Barnsley respectively. He made his Champions League debut against CSKA Moscow on 3 November, followed by another appearance in the 1–0 defeat to Beşiktaş on 25 November, in which he forced a save from the goalkeeper in the last minute. He came on as a substitute for Dimitar Berbatov in the League Cup fifth round on 1 December, before signing a four-year contract the next day that would tie him to the club until June 2014.
Towards the end of the year, Macheda suffered an injury that kept him out until 21 January, when he returned for a reserve match against Sunderland. However, he picked up another injury soon after, meaning that he missed out on the win over Aston Villa in the League Cup Final. He made his first Premier League appearance of the season in the 4–0 win over Bolton on 27 March, replacing Ryan Giggs in the 84th minute. With Wayne Rooney suffering ankle ligament damage against Bayern Munich in the Champions League, Macheda was named on the bench for United's top-of-the-table clash at home to Chelsea on 3 April. With United 1–0 down, Macheda came on for Paul Scholes in the 72nd minute; Chelsea scored a second goal in the 79th minute, before Macheda scored a consolation goal for the home side two minutes later, although there was a suspicion of handball as he turned the ball into the net.
On 28 July 2010, Macheda scored his first goals of United's pre-season tour of North America as he netted twice in the 2010 MLS All-Star Game. The first came after just 21 seconds as he capitalised on a poor back-pass and the second came in the 13th minute with a header from a Nani corner kick. On 13 November 2010, Macheda scored his first goal of the season, netting United's first goal in a 2–2 away draw against Aston Villa.
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