The story of Federico Macheda career has been talked about in different circles across the football world about a player that appeared to have the world at his feet before falling away. Ten years ago the Italian scored a goal that appeared to transform his career.
Trailing 2-1 with 19 minutes left in the game the then 17-year-old striker was thrown into the game to rescue a point. Cristiano Ronaldo equalized in the final minutes to make the game evenly poised and United began to increase the pressure on their opposition.
Then the moment that transformed Macheda’s career came as he received a pass from Ryan Giggs with a swift turn the forward shot the ball into the top corner winning the match for the Red Devils. His performance was heralded by the media as one of for the future.
But Macheda failed to make his mark at Old Trafford as his performances were few and far between for the club. subsequent loan stints at Sampdoria, Stuttgart,QPR and Cardiff failed to impress. The 27-year-old had a fruitful spell at Birmingham scoring 10 times in 18 matches in what was his best season.
Without a club in 2017, He returned back to Italy and played for hometown club Novara where he impressed and earned a move to Greek giants Panathinaikos. He has flourished at the club scoring seven times in 22 appearances.
Macheda still has time to make a big move and the 27-year-old would be hoping to produce the talent that made him touted as the next best thing ten years ago.