Manchester United forward Federico Macheda looks set to leave the club this January, after growing tired of sitting on the bench.
The Italian striker burst onto the scene in 2009, scoring crucial winning goals against Aston Villa and Sunderland in successive weeks on the way to the Premier League title, but has struggled to live up to the expectation that has followed.
The arrivals of Javier Hernandez and Robin Van Persie since then, as well as Danny Welbeck’s rise to prominence after a fantastic loan spell at Sunderland in the 2009/10 season, mean that Macheda has fallen way down the pecking order. The further addition of young Chilean striker Angelo Henriquez has also raised questions over whether or not Macheda features at all in Sir Alex’s long term vision for the squad.
Macheda has been somewhat unfortunate, with two loan spells over the last two years ending in disaster. He was loaned to Sampdoria at the beginning of 2011, but after scoring in his first appearance for the club, was suddenly benched after the manager that had brought him to the club was sacked. The new manager never put the same faith in Macheda, and he was consigned to the bench for the majority of his loan spell, denying him a valuable opportunity to grow and develop.
Injuries and another managerial change proved enough to wreck his loan to Queens Park Rangers last season.
Macheda did feature on United’s pre-season tour, but he has not made a competitive appearance this season, and will look to move should that not change before the winter transfer window opens up in the UK.
“How can he be decisive for the team if he never plays?”, said Macheda’s agent, Giovanni Bia said.
“Manchester United have some phenomenal players in attack, so it is truly difficult for Federico to find space. It’s not true what they write in the English papers that he’s going through a bad spell.
“He wants to play and if he cannot do so by January then we’ll try to find an alternative solution. I will talk to Sir Alex Ferguson over the next few days.
“Federico was requested by German and Spanish teams over the summer, but the English club preferred to keep hold of him.
“I hope they understand the situation and let him leave in January, because it makes no sense to keep a 21-year-old on the bench.”
