Federico Macheda has sought to resolve any misunderstandings after referring to Wayne Rooney as a "bit of a chav" during a conversation with Italian reporters.

Macheda described Rooney as a "coatto" – a Roman slang term that does not have a direct translation but broadly carries the same sense as "chav" would in English. But although the word can be used pejoratively, Macheda had intended it in a more familiar, affectionate sense.

"I said 'coatto' in a Roman way, but with no intention of offending Rooney," said Macheda yesterday after learning that his words had been making for uncomfortable headlines in England. "I respect him hugely. I wanted to say that for me he is a rough and ready character, truthful."

Macheda had not been helped by the fact that many dictionaries offer far stronger translations of the word. The online dictionary wordreference.com translates coatto as "young urban working-class person with vulgar and sometimes violent behaviour", leading some English translations to simply claim that Macheda had branded his team-mate "vulgar" and "working-class".

As Gazzetta dello Sport reflects this morning: "Romans know well that within that word 'coatto', there is a state of mind specific to that city that 100 other Italian words could never define." The Roma striker Francesco Totti has proudly referred to himself as a "coatto" in the past, and some reports of Macheda's interview suggest he actually said that Rooney was a "coatto like me".

Nevertheless, Macheda was sufficiently concerned that he immediately texted Rio Ferdinand in the hope that, as a senior member of the United dressing room, the defender would be able to help smooth things over. "Rio told me not to worry, that everything was fine," he added.