Former Lazio youth boss Volfango Patarca has slammed the attack on Manchester United and the Macheda family after Federico's success on Sunday.

Patarca, who brought through the likes of Alessandro Nesta, Paolo di Cano and Gigi di Biagio at Lazio, says losing Macheda to United is squarely the responsibility of the Italian club.

"We all knew about Macheda in Rome," recalls Patarca. "We all knew he was good.

"It is wrong that he was allowed to leave. They say he could not sign the contract. But they hardly tried enough: enough to give a job to his father, as they did in Manchester. The family asked not a million, but had only the problem of living on the far outskirts of Rome and as both parents had to work, they could no longer accompany the boy. You cannot pretend that they (Lazio) did not know this.

"When he left, I was no longer with Lazio, but I told them about him. By then, Macheda had already turned down half of Europe and was being courted by the best European clubs, everyone wanted him."