Radamel Falcao signs for Manchester United in £6m season-long loan deal

Manchester United have won the race to sign Radamel Falcao
Manchester United have won the race to sign Radamel Falcao
He has agreed a deal worth £280,000-a-week
Old Trafford club saw off Arsenal and Manchester City for striker
Juventus were also interested in taking him to Italy
United signed Falcao amid fears of niggling injuries to Robin van Persie
Danny Welbeck will be sold while Javier Hernandez has joined Real Madrid

By Chris Wheeler for the Daily Mail

Published: 09:12 GMT, 1 September 2014 | Updated: 01:40 GMT, 2 September 2014

1.2k

View
comments

TRANSFER DEADLINE DAY

Re-live all the drama here

Manchester United have shown their financial

muscle by completing a stunning deadline-day deal for Radamel Falcao after moneybags neighbours City were put off by the staggering cost.

Monaco’s Colombia striker arrived on a private jet

to tie up a season-long loan

to Old Trafford for a fee of £6million, with an option to buy him next summer for a further £46m.

Falcao told www.manutd.com: 'I am delighted to be joining Manchester United on loan this season. Manchester United is the biggest club in the world and is clearly determined to get back to the top.

'I am looking forward to working with Louis van Gaal and contributing to the team’s success at this very exciting period in the club’s history.'

VIDEO Scroll down to watch Neil Ashton: Radamel Falcao is obsessed with scoring goals

+34

Pose: Radamel Falcao holds his Manchester United jersey aloft after completing a season-long loan move

+34

Arrival: Falcao joins on loan for an initial £6m fee with an option to buy next summer for a further £46m

+34

Side by side: Falcao poses with the United shirt and assistant manager Ryan Giggs

+34

Proud: The Colombian is the eighth from his native country to play in the Premier League

+34

Boost: Falcao speaks with Giggs after signing from Monaco, and promises to kick-start United's season

+34

Done deal: Manchester United have won the race to sign Falcao from Monaco on a loan deal

+34

Happy now, Louis? United manager Van Gaal receives a lifetime achievement award during the Dutch Footballer of the Year Gala in Hilversum on Monday night

+34

Arrived: Falcao turns up at United's training ground on Monday evening as the window comes to a close

+34

Jetting in: Falcao's private plane lands at Manchester Airport shortly before 6pm on Monday night

+34

Drive time: Falcao can be seen arriving at United's Carrington training ground around 6.30pm (back right)

+34

Familiar face: Falcao was part of the Monaco side that played Arsenal in the Emirates Cup in pre-season

+34

England calling: Falcao also faced Tottenham in a friendly fixture last summer with the French club

+34

Sitting it out: Falcao (right) watched Monaco's game against Lille from the stands at the weekend

Falcao by numbers

River Plate (2005-09): 105 apps/45 goals

Porto (2009-12): 87 apps/72 goals

Atletico Madrid (2011-13): 91 apps/70 goals

Monaco (2013-14): 22 apps/13 goals

Colombia: 51 caps/20 goals

Manager Van Gaal added: 'I am delighted Radamel has joined us on loan this season. He is one of the most prolific goalscorers in the game. His appearance-to-goal ratio speaks for itself and, when a player of this calibre becomes available, it is an opportunity not to be missed.'

But United have had to pay the 28-year-old around £280,000 a week to persuade him to leave the tax haven. Falcao was initially offered to English clubs over the weekend for personal terms of £345,000 a week, and while City officials held talks with Monaco and Falcao’s representatives, they were put off by the size of the deal, which also deterred Arsenal.

That left the door open for United to make their move on Sunday night, just four days after agreeing a British record fee of £59.7m with Real Madrid for Angel di Maria.

United wanted another striker because they have concerns that Robin van Persie still has problems from the knee injury he suffered near the end of last season and could yet need surgery.

Neil Ashton: Radamel Falcao is obsessed with scoring goals

+34

Summer time: Falcao spent time in Miami with his family after missing the World Cup through injury

+34

Relaxing: Falcao watched on from the sidelines as Colombia reached the quarter-finals before losing to Brazil

+34

Main man: Falcao has established himself as one of the most potent strikers in Europe

+34

Deadly: Falcao has scored goals in Argentina, Portugal, France and Spain and is now on his way to England

+34

Winner: Falcao celebrates winning the Europa League with Porto in Dublin in 2011

+34

Champions: Porto beat Braga in an all-Portuguese Europa League final at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin

+34

Talent scout: Falcao was one of several Colombian players Porto landed for relatively small money

+34

Don't drop it: Falcao helped Atletico Madrid beat Chelsea to win the European Super Cup two years ago

+34

One of the best: Falcao scored 70 goals during his time in Spain with Atletico Madrid before joining Monaco

+34

Memento: Falcao was also wanted by Manchester City and Arsenal but opted to move to Old Trafford

Falcao vs Van Persie vs Rooney

Falcao Rooney Van Persie

Games Played 88 93 99

Minutes Played 7366 7576 8177

Goals 63 57 68

Con Rate % 25.2 20.8 22.1

Mins/Goal 116.9 132.9 120.3

Assists 4 24 21

Chances Created 73 158 180

It is understood United persuaded Falcao to accept the same sum they are paying the Argentina midfielder, which is slightly less than the £300,000 a week earned by captain Wayne Rooney. United also tied up the £14m signing of Ajax midfielder Daley Blind, who joins Ander Herrera, Luke Shaw and Marcos Rojo at Old Trafford after a summer that has seen them spend around £160million.

Blind, 24, said: ‘It is a real honour to sign for Manchester United. Louis van Gaal is a tremendously talented coach, I have worked with him at Ajax and also for Holland and I cannot wait to work with him at the biggest club in the world.’

Ronaldo: Falcao and Di Maria excellent players for Manchester...

+34

Starting out: Falcao joined River Plate after leaving Colombia in 2005 and went on to spend four years there

+34

Talisman: Falcao has also led the line for Colombia and is seen here having a shot blocked by David Luiz

+34

Loved: Falcao is in the Colombia squad for their friendly with Brazil in Miami on Friday night

+34

Finishing touch: Falcao scores for the South American side against Belgium in a friendly last November

+34

Golden generation: Falcao is among a number of Colombians to have come through the system in recent years

+34

Friends United: Gary Neville (right) tweeted: 'Ah I knew that late night bottle of red might pay off!! Haha'

+34

Concern: United signed Falcao amid fears that Robin van Persie (right) is suffering from niggling injuries

+34

Moving on: Javier Hernandez (left) is joining Real Madrid after struggling to hold down his place at United

+34

Time up: Danny Welbeck is also expected to leave on deadline day with Tottenham one possible destination

UNITED'S SUMMER BY BUMBERS

£147.1m - Amount spent by United in the summer transfer window, more than any other team in the country

200 - Goals scored by Falcao during his club career

£10m - United’s net spend this summer is around £10million higher than Jose Mourinho’s entire net spend in his two spells at Chelsea

7 - United have signed seven players this summer, the most in one window since the summer of 2007

0.66 - Falcao’s goals per game rate in his club career, much better than the PL’s top strikers.

Aguero 0.48, Van Persie 0.47, Rooney 0.45, Dzeko 0.44, Giroud 0.42, Sturridge 0.39, Balotelli 0.39, Costa 0.38

Van Gaal welcomed a player he used on the left side of Holland’s defence at the World Cup but is more likely to deploy as a holding midfielder at United.

‘I am delighted Daley has signed for the club,’ said Van Gaal. ‘He is a very intelligent and versatile footballer who can play in many positions. Daley is a great reader of the game and he has played under my philosophy over a number of years.’

Falcao’s arrival meant striker Danny Welbeck was allowed to join rivals Arsenal in a £16m deal, while Javier Hernandez went to Real Madrid on a season-long loan, with an option for a £16m permanent move.