Federico Macheda has spoken about his time at Manchester United, touching on various topics throughout his England career, including Sir Alex Ferguson and Cristiano Ronaldo.
In an interview with former United captain Rio Ferdinand on his Vibe with Five show, the Italian spoke candidly about the ups and downs of his football life.
After joining the Red Devils from his hometown club Lazio in Rome aged just 16, Macheda recalled how it felt to be drafted by United.
Describing the approach as “feeling weird” and that he “didn’t believe it”, Macheda recounts how he and his parents were promised a better life in Manchester, so the whole family moved in 2008.
Macheda made an immediate impact for United and despite being just 16 years old, he launched himself into the Under 18s early on, scoring on his debut and finishing the season as top scorer.
But after spending two seasons in United’s world-famous youth team, the striker grew frustrated with the way of life in Manchester, feeling his family weren’t better off after the move, as they had been promised.
And when asked about his former Reds boss who gave him his break in a United shirt, Macheda recounted how he first spoke to Ferguson.
At 18 years old and knocking on the door of the first team, Macheda intended to return to Italy. It took an intervention from Ferguson himself, promising to “fix the situation”, for the Italian to settle down and commit his future to United.
Armed with assurances from Sir Alex that things will get better if he stays in Manchester, “Kiko” continued to impress United’s reserves and the Italian national team at youth level.
And his performances paid off soon after, with him being named as a substitute for United’s home game against Aston Villa in April 2008.
With Fergie’s men losing 2-1, the manager stayed true to form, relying on youth to represent United and show why the youth system was the best in the world, so he introduced the young Macheda at the end of the game before Cristiano Ronaldo achieved the equalizer. .
As the match entered the 93rd minute, the young Italian wrote his name in Manchester United history, with a sharp turn and a shot from inside the area. The Stretford End watched in awe as the curved shot handed the Red Devils a dramatic victory.
And when Macheda wandered off to search for his father, celebrating victory together as the crowd around him erupted, he apparently justified the decision not to return to Italy just a few months earlier.
Federico spent the next two seasons on the sidelines of the United team, despite his heroic debut, and after a season injured, he finally returned home to Italy and joined Sampdoria on loan.
Spending the next 3 seasons on loan at 6 different clubs before joining Cardiff, Macheda left England permanently in 2016, 7 years after that wonderful goal at Old Trafford.
And in the interview, the now 31-year-old also recounts how he always found Ronaldo friendly, describing the Portuguese as “out of this world”.
Despite his many regrets and missed opportunities to rise to the top, Macheda’s fortunes changed in 2018 when he left Serie B side Novara and signed for Panathinaikos.
Macheda scored plenty of goals in his four seasons there, describing how he fell in love with football again at the Greek giants and is now plying his trade in the Turkish league.
But despite having played just 19 times for United, and never having represented Italy at the highest level, Kiko fondly remembers his time there, as well as the club… and he will always be remembered for that dramatic triumph in OldTrafford. 
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