Magpies lead Macheda chase

Sir Alex Ferguson stated earlier this month that he was not planning to let any of his forwards leave this season, either on loan or a permanent basis. However, he has such a wealth of options at his disposal that it may be difficult for a player like Macheda to play regularly if he does stay at Old Trafford. Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez, Dimitar Berbatov and Michael Owen remain at the club, while Mame Biram Diouf has returned from a loan spell at Blackburn and Danny Welbeck started the campaign in great form before being struck down by a hamstring injury against Arsenal at the weekend. Macheda spent the second half of last term with Sampdoria in his native Italy but his agent, Giovanni Bia, has reiterated that there is no chance of a move back to Serie A this summer. Bia claims United are only ready to let Macheda go out on another temporary deal in the Premier League and has revealed that Newcastle and Queens Park Rangers are the clubs in contention for his signature. Both Alan Pardew and Neil Warnock are keen to strengthen their squads before Wednesday night's transfer deadline and Bia says it is the Magpies who are currently in pole position for Macheda. "Macheda doesn't return to Italy, Manchester United will send him on loan in the Premier League," the agent told calciomercato.com. "At this time, Newcastle has the edge over Queens Park Rangers."