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Bookies have slashed the price on Radamel Falcao joining Manchester City, but the Monaco striker is still believed to favour a move to Real Madrid.
Falcao, 28, was priced at 16/1 early this morning but his City were installed as the bookies favourites with the current price at around 5/4.
Monaco, according to various reports, will ask for a £20m loan fee for the Colombian, who is desperate to leave Ligue 1 after just one injury hit season.
Falcao is believed to prefer a move to Spanish giants Real Madrid but Los Blancos have already spent big on Toni Kroos, Falcao's former Monaco team-mate James Rodriguez and goalkeeper Keylor Navas.
Carlo Ancelotti may not want to pay such a steep fee for a loan having committed Karim Benzema to a new contract earlier this summer.
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Should a deal to Real Madrid fail to materialise, City and Arsenal are both said to be ready to pounce.
However, Falcao also commands £200,000-a-week in wages meaning a total package could cost more than £30m with no guarantee that the Colombian would stay more than a year.
Arsenal are in need of a striker after Olivier Giroud was ruled out until at least December with an ankle injury, but Arsene Wenger on Friday said he could cover the striker from within his current squad.
"We have Yaya Sanogo, we have Alexis Sanchez, we have Theo Walcott, we have Lukas Podolski," he said in a press conference.
City already have a plethora of options up front with Sergio Aguero, Edin Dzeko, Stevan Jovetic and Alvaro Negredo - three of those scored more than 20 goals last season while the fourth, Jovetic, put in a man of the match display against Liverpool on Monday.
Negredo is currently injured and expected back in mid-September.
Falcao scored 11 goals in just 19 matches for Monaco last season after his £50m move from Atletico Madrid. In the previous four seasons for Atletico and Porto he scored an incredible 142 in 187 matches.
Falcao already has two in three matches in Ligue 1 this season.
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