Federico Macheda

“Kiko” Macheda, as he is affectionately known by his fans was born in Rome, Italy in 1991. He joined Lazio early in his life and it was clear to the Rome based team that Macheda was something special and important to hang on to.

Macheda would have stayed with Lazio had it not been for Italian football regulations, which prevented under-18s signing professional terms. Manchester United’s sprawling scouting network had had him in their sights for a while before the Red Devils signed him when he was 16 years old in 2007.

It was a move that caused uproar at Lazio who had just called Macheda up to the senior squad’s pre-season camp in the summer of that same year. Macheda is not the first young Italian to be snagged by Sir Alex Ferguson as they did the same for Giuseppe Rossi. Manchester seems content with stealing top prospects away from other teams rather than sending players through their youth ranks, just an observation, nothing more.

Lazio chairman Claudio Lotito is critical of United’s approach for the youngster as well, and believes academy players should be protected from the advances of overseas clubs until they are 18.

“We tried in every way to stop Manchester United from taking away our player, but the present Italian regulations don’t give you any type of defence,” Lotito said.

”All these players are robbed as a matter of course by this club,” Lotito said in quotes reported by the Daily Mail. ”They are always outside what is normal in terms of etiquette.
”They go to the parents and give them money and important jobs. These are boys who come from poor families. The families base their choices on economic interests.
”It’s not moral. It is like a cattle market. The young players are treated like cattle.”
“I talked repeatedly with Macheda’s parents, we established a dialogue, but it was not possible to do anything. We could not compete with United’s offer.

“That is not right, we have to be provided with more reliable and concrete rules than those which govern Italian clubs.”

Macheda has been training under the tutelage of United great Ole Gunnar Solskjaer who is now coaching the United Reserve squad. After scoring eight goals in eight games for the reserve team he was called up to fill the gap created by Berbatov’s injury and in his first appearance, he scored.

Personal Information

Name: Federico Macheda
Nickname: Kiko
Age: 17
Birth Date: August 22, 1991
Nationality: Italian
International: Italy
Position: Forward
Height: 6 feet
Previous Clubs: Lazio