Radamel Falcao: Manchester United ready to seal permanent transfer of striker as 'everything is complete' to extend his Old Trafford stay

Falcao is on loan with the club until the end of the season but reports suggest United have already agreed to sign him for £50m

Jack de Menezes
Thursday 30 October 2014 11:53 GMT
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Radamel Falcao
Radamel Falcao

Manchester United are believed to have already secured the deal that will keep Radamel Falcao at the club beyond the end of the season in a package that will exceed £50m for the Colombian striker.

Falcao is on loan at United from French club Monaco, with the Premier League club paying an initial £6m fee to secure him for the first season under Louis van Gaal. However, it’s widely believed that United do have the option to sign him on a permanent deal, and according to Goal.com, an agreement is already in place regarding a £44m deal.

Falcao has shown glimpses of greatness at Old Trafford since signing on deadline day, but he has only scored once in five outings for United and was dropped to the bench for the 2-2 draw with West Brom despite the absence of the suspended Wayne Rooney – although he missed the 1-1 draw with Chelsea through injury last weekend.

Initial concerns over his fitness and whether he has fully recovered from the serious knee injury that ruled him out of the World Cup in the summer appear to have been allayed, and he looks set to be offered a contract on £240,000-a-week to match his current wages.

However, the transfer will represent another significant financial outlay by United in their attempt to return to the top of English football. Having broken the British transfer fee with the £59.7m fee for Di Maria, Falcao’s move for £44m plus the £6m loan fee would come in not far behind the Argentinian’s transfer. With Falcao’s wages, costing around £12.5m a year, a long-term contract would take his acquisition close to £100m.

Falcao heads the ball during the 2-2 draw with West Brom

His deadline day move came after he was extraordinarily linked with Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal before signing for United, but Juventus have also revealed that they came close to landing the Colombian in the summer.

“We were following him and there was contact,” Juventus managing director Beppe Marotta told RAI. “We were very close to [signing] Falcao and the player preferred Italy and our colours, but then United came forward and they have much more spending power than we do so the deal broke down.”

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