Federico Macheda headed to Sampdoria on Loan

A few days ago, indications were that Federico Macheda was headed out on loan. Federico Macheda set to go out on Loan - The Busby Babe Well, that indeed has happened, as Kiko will be joining Sampdoria of the Serie A. Sampdoria snap up Kiko Macheda on loan - ESPN Soccernet The Italy U-21 international will head to Italy for what appears to be a six month loan spell. Sampdoria recently moved Antonio Cassano to A.C. Milan, so Macheda should have much more opportunity to make first team appearances there than he did for Manchester United. Sir Alex Ferguson undoubtedly will hope this aids the 19 year old's development and pays dividends for United down the road, similar to Danny Welbeck at Sunderland and Tom Cleverley at Wigan this season.  

Assuming the knock that Wayne Rooney picked up vs West Brom is minor, and that Michael Owen returns to full health (big assumption, I'm aware), Fergie's thinking must be that he has four quality strikers available (along with Chicharito and Berbatov). And with Fergie's current preference for a hybrid 4-3-3/4-5-1 formation where a single striker is typically used for big league games and difficult Champions League matchups, it makes it even less likely that Macheda would have received significant minutes for the remainder of the season. Aston Villa supporters surely will rejoice that they will not be seeing Kiko on the February 1st fixture as a late game substitute. YouTube - Manchester United - Aston Villa 3-2 Federico Macheda