VfB Stuttgart have signed a five-month loan deal with Manchester United striker Federico Macheda as they seek to boost their front line for a European spot challenge, the Bundesliga club said yesterday.

The 21-year-old, at Manchester United since 2007, had been loaned out to Sampdoria and Queen’s Park Rangers before returning to Manchester this season.

“We wanted to sign a forward and are happy to have brought in Federico Macheda,” said Stuttgart sports director Fredi Bobic after the Italian’s first training session with Stuttgart.

“He is young, hungry and fits well with the VfB. He comes from a top club where he has shown what he can do. Now we want to integrate him into the team as quickly as possible.”

Macheda made a stunning debut for Manchester United in 2009, scoring a brilliant stoppage-time goal to secure a vital 3-2 Premier League win over Aston Villa.

But Macheda’s Old Trafford career has stalled since and he has played fewer than 20 Premier League matches for the club.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.