With Newcastle stepping up their search for a striker on the penultimate day of the transfer window, a loan deal seems to be in the offing. Alan Pardew has reportedly been offered one Manchester United striker on loan, but should he be considering a Chelsea forward instead?
Federico Macheda is the Man United forward in question. The Italian 20-year-old spent the second half of last season on loan at Sampdoria but failed to score in 14 Serie A appearances, netting just once in the Coppa Italia, as Sampdoria were relegated. In his three years at Old Trafford first team chances have been few and far between, but Kiko’s stunning turn and strike against Aston Villa still springs to mind.
Having already done business with Sir Alex Ferguson this summer in signing Gabriel Obertan, Newcastle have good relations with the Manchester club. However, Newcastle’s rivals Sunderland are also thought to be keen on Macheda and Steve Bruce has already raided Man United a couple of times this summer for Wes Brown and John O’Shea, and could use his United connections once more.
While the two north-east clubs circle around Macheda, Stoke City seem to have stolen a march on the rest. Stoke are thought to be in talks with Chelsea to sign Romelu Lukaku on a short term deal. The 18-year-old striker who wears the number 18 shirt at Stamford Bridge was only signed by Chelsea in the summer for a fee of, yes you guessed it, £18 million.
Lukaku is a youngster with a huge reputation as has been touted to fill the boots of Didier Drogba at Chelsea. He is raw, but seemingly has the physical attributes needed to make it at the top level. Stoke’s move reminds me of Bolton swooping for Blues Chelsea striker Daniel Sturridge in January, and in my opinion Newcastle would be wise to learn from their mistakes and not miss out on another Chelsea striker.
While I wouldn’t turn my nose up at signing Macheda, in terms of young Premier League strikers available on loan, I feel there are better options out there. If Stoke manage to secure Lukaku on a temporary deal it will be a real coup for Tony Pulis, and if I was Pardew, I’d be looking to trump the Potters in their move for the Belgian wonderkid.
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Lukaku cant join anybody this transfer window he would have to join in january if chelsea wanted to loan him out
Ah, ooops
PL Rule 7.1:
a Temporary Transfer to a Club may not take place in the TransferWindow in which the Transferor Club acquired the Player’s registration;
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In other words, Lukaku can’t be loaned out in this window.
What they said.