“It’s about how he comes back to United and responds to the challenge.”

There is a lesson to be learned in every situation and Manchester United reserve manager Warren Joyce hopes Kiko Macheda will have picked up some vital things from his problematic spell at Sampdoria.

Macheda was wanted by a number of English clubs but chose to return to his home country of Italy in January with Sampdoria his club of choice.

It was thought the playing time would help bring on the young striker’s game but the spell did not quite pan out as expected; Macheda didn’t see the playing time he thought he would and Sampdoria were eventually relegated.

Despite not developing his game, there are other aspects that Macheda will have learned from his spell in Italian and his manager in the reserves, Warren Joyce, has stressed the importance of him actually realising these things.

Speaking to the club’s official website Joyce stated:

“Sometimes you learn about yourself even when things don’t go well.

“Federico’s had to dig deep.

“I know it’s his home country but he’s been away from Manchester and things have not gone particularly well for him. He’s had to look at himself and time will tell.

“We only had one real meeting out there in Italy, but I’ve had regular dialogue with him on the phone and he sounds up for the challenge and he might have learned from this bad experience.

“Only time will tell. It’s now all about how he comes back to United and responds to the challenge.”