from an interview with ESPN

http://www.espnfc.co.uk/blog/espn-fc...ited-to-novara

ESPN FC: In the summer of 2014, you were an in-form free agent.

Macheda: Cardiff City, who'd just been relegated from the Premier League, offered me a three-year contract under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. It was a big club and Ole really wanted me. I had offers from three clubs in Serie A -- Palermo and Atalanta for sure -- but I wanted to play in the English leagues where I had been doing well again.

The contract was great, but then I got injured in preseason and missed the first eight games. I scored when I came back on my debut. Then Ole got sacked and the new manager Russell Slade started to get rid of the players on big contracts, who Ole had signed. Russell wanted me to stay and I did OK under him.

Then the back injury returned; a slipped disc pushing on my nerve. The pain was terrible. After an operation I went back but had no chances. A loan to Forest followed, but I wasn't fully fit to play. I started the first three games but was exhausted after 55 minutes. Cardiff paid up my contract in August 2016.