Federico Macheda will not join Lazio
Manchester United striker Federico Macheda insists that he will not be joining Italian side Lazio on a loan deal for the rest of the season.
The Italian is currently on international duty with the under-21 squad, but when asked if he would consider a move to Serie A the forward replied, "No, I don't think so."
Lazio are top of the Italian league and capturing Macheda on a loan deal would bolster their chances of challenging for the title.
Macheda has struggled to find the form he displayed during his debut season for Manchester United. He was used as an important substitute and scored a number of crucial goals for United towards the tail end of the 2008/2009 season, which led to United winning
the league.
Since then, Macheda has struggled with injury and form and the Manchester United striker has only returned to make regular substitute appearances this season.
Rumours suggested that Macheda may leave the club on a loan deal as Manchester United have a number of strikers ahead of Macheda in the pecking order.
Wayne Rooney is the number one striker at Old Trafford, while Dimitar Berbatov has at long last lived up to his reputation and he is the form player at the club this season.
Michael Owen would also appear to be ahead of Macheda, while new signing Tiago Bebe would hope to feature at some stage in the season after his transfer to the club during the summer.
However, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson is reluctant to loan out Macheda. Danny Welbeck has already gone out on loan to Sunderland while Michael Owen has a long history of injury problems.
The Manchester United manager believes that Macheda could be the future of Manchester United and is unwilling to loan out the forward who has made five appearances this season.
"What can I say? It's very nice when you hear nice things from a coach with the charisma and history of Ferguson," Macheda said.
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