Federico Macheda admits he made the wrong choice in 2011, when he joined Sampdoria on loan with both Sunderland and Everton interested.
Macheda is perhaps best known for his late equaliser against Aston Villa in April 2009 - a curling effort on the turn to earn Sir Alex Ferguson's side a late point.
And 18 months later he netted against Aston Villa again, just two months prior to the January 2011 transfer window. Macheda was, at the time, considered one of the brightest prospects at Manchester United and Ferguson was keen for him to join a Premier League side with Everton and Sunderland - at the time managed by Steve Bruce - in for him.
But Macheda opted to return to his homeland with a switch to Sampdoria - one that ultimately failed as he netted just one goal in 16 appearances. It was the start of a decline in Macheda's career, before he ultimately managed to pick it up again in the last two seasons at Greek side Olympiakos.
But looking back in an interview with Goal, the now-28-year-old admits that decision in 2011 was a mistake.
“I wouldn’t make that decision again. I once said that going to Sampdoria was a mistake because it was a negative experience for me but it’s part and parcel of a footballer’s career,” Macheda said.
“Sometimes you take a good, sometimes a bad decision. That one was a bad one. But it was a good lesson, which taught me a lot.”
It's not the first time Macheda has spoken about the decision to turn down Sunderland and Everton loan moves.
In a 2017 interview with ESPN, he went onto more detail, revealing how he went against the wishes of Ferguson in making the move.
He said: "I angered Ferguson. At Manchester I played a few games, but I needed to play every week. Ferguson wanted to send a loan and that was reasonable.
"Many Premier League clubs wanted to take me including Everton and Sunderland. But I wanted to play in Italy, in Serie A. Ferguson did not agree and told me it would be better if I played on loan in England so he could watch me and told me that in Italy he would not have the same power. I insisted on Italy and it was the worst mistake of my life, I should have listened to him.
"I started well and I played right away against Udinese, then I played against Milan, Napoli, Juventus and Roma....I was only 19 years old and I had to take a responsibility that I could not take."
