SS Lazio to sign Federico Macheda on loan in January
If the speculation coming out of Italy is to be believed, Italian Serie A outfit SS Lazio are set to snap up their former youth prodigy as early as January transfer period.
According to the reports, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has told the young forward that he will find first team opportunities hard to come by at the Manchester based club. The forward is now worried about his future at the club as failure to
appear regularly for the first team will hamper his growth. With the arrival of Mexican sensation Javier Hernandez at the club, Macheda has gone down in the pecking order. The club already has two world class forwards in Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov and
the young Italian is very unlikely to break into first team.
Federico Macheda was signed by the Red Devils on 16th September, 2007 on a free transfer. Youngsters in Italy cannot be offered a professional contract before they turn 17. Red Devils snapped up the player at the age of 16; even before the youngster
was offered a professional contract.
The incident left the Lazio hierarchy enraged and Sir Alex Ferguson was promptly named a thief. Fiery Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini famously called the English Premier League outfits ‘Pirates’ following the incident.
The loan move will come with an option to buy the player outright at the end of the loan deal. Macheda for his part has welcomed the deal and is reportedly looking forward to move back to the country of his birth. The forward however will receive a hostile
welcome as the club ultras have not forgotten his departure. An act they consider synonymous to a betrayal.
Manchester United used the same tactic with current Villarreal forward Giuseppe Rossi. The yellow submarines striker was sold with a buy back clause that was to expire in two years. Manchester United failed to buy him back and Rossi has gone on to become
one the best strikers in La Liga. Red Devils’ fans deem his departure as a loss to the club.
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