A Manchester United cult hero has moved to the 13th club in his nomadic career.
Federico Macheda, who remains the Red Devils’ youngest-ever goalscorer in the Premier League, has joined Greek top flight side Asteras Tripolis.
The 33-year-old will also link up with a Premier League icon at his new club, with former Chelsea midfielder Claude Makelele in charge at the Greek outfit.
Macheda arrives in Greece after a season with Turkish club Ankaragucu, where he scored five goals from 28 appearances in all competitions.Â
It was the Italian’s second stint with Ankaragucu having spent part of the 2022-23 season with the team before moving on loan to Cypriot club APOEL.
Â
Manchester United cult hero Federico Macheda has signed for the 13th club of his career
The Italian made headlines for his stunning debut as he scored the winner against Aston Villa
Macheda will work under Claude Makele at Greek Super League club Asteras Tripolis
Macheda is best known for the way in which he burst onto the scene for United in 2009.
Against Aston Villa in the 2009-10 season, Macheda scored a late winner for the Red Devils and it helped swing the title race in their favour.
But after being crowned as one of the youngest-ever Premier League title winners, Macheda’s career never quite kicked on.
By his own admission, Macheda reacted poorly when he was not selected by then-manager Sir Alex Ferguson and resulted in him constantly being sent out on loan.
In fact, Macheda had six separate loan spells at Sampdoria, Queens Park Rangers, VfB Stuttgart, Doncaster Rovers and Birmingham City but never did enough to convince Ferguson he should remain at Old Trafford.
Macheda was subsequently sold to Cardiff City in 2014 but the move didn’t go to plan and he was without a club at the end of 2016.
Luckily for the striker, Serie B side Novara offered him a career lifeline.
It proved to be a wise move to return to his homeland as Macheda was sold on to Greek giants Panathinaikos in 2018.
Macheda burst onto the scene but quickly fell out of favour with Ferguson due to his attitude
He struggled to make an impact during various loan spells across Italy and England
But Macheda found his groove at Panathinaikos and made over 110 appearances for the club
Macheda found a happy home for himself at Panathinaikos as he went on to play 116 games for the club and score 40 goals.
He was then snapped up by Ankaragucu in 2022 where he spent two seasons, with a loan spell at APOEL sandwiched in between.
At Asteras Tripolis, Macheda will compete for a spot in the starting team with Hungarian striker Martin Adam, who went viral during Euro 2024 for his bulked-up physique.
Asteras Tripolis finished 8th out of 14 teams in the Greek Super League, ten points clear of the relegation zone.