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Colombian striker Radamel Falcao has joined 2014/15 EPL winners Chelsea on a season-long loan deal from AS Monaco. The Blues are expected to pay the former Atletico Madrid player £180,000 a week and a loan fee of around £4m for his services, according to The Guardian.
He will now link up with his new squad on their pre-season tour of North America. He told Chelsea’s official website, 'I am very happy to be joining Chelsea and can't wait to start training and help with our aim of retaining the league title and being successful in Europe.'
The 29-year-old had a similar loan deal with Manchester United the last season but failed to hit the heights of his previous campaigns that had made him one of the best strikers in the world. He endured a frustrating 2014/15 season with the Red Devils, suffering from injuries and a loss of form, eventually scoring only 4 goals in 29 appearances for the club.
Falcao built his reputation at Porto where he scored an amazing 72 goals in 87 appearances for the Primeira Liga giants and helped them win the Europa League in his final season at the club.
After his move to Atletico Madrid, he furthered his reputation as he won the same competition again in his debut season with the Rojablancos that made him the first player in history to win two consecutive Europa League title with two different clubs. Overall, Falcao scored 70 goals in 91 appearances during his stay with the Spanish club.
Chelsea were linked with the Colombian hitman throughout the summer after Jose Mourinho suggested last month that he can get the former Porto striker back to his best.
He told DirecTV Sports, ‘If I can help Falcao reach his level again, I will do it. It hurts me that people in England think that the real Falcao is the one we saw at Manchester United’, via ESPN.
At Chelsea, Falcao will be reunited with – Filipe Luis, Diego Costa and Thibaut Courtois, with whom he played at Atletico Madrid.
The following tweet was posted by the Chelsea’s official Twitter account –
Mario Pasalic joins AS Monaco on a season-long loan
As part of Falcao’s loan deal, Chelsea midfielder Mario Pasalic will go the opposite way, signing with AS Monaco on a season-long loan deal, according to Chelsea’s official website.
This will be the 20-year-old’s second consecutive loan after spending the 2014/15 season with Elche, where he scored 3 goals in 35 appearances for the club. He made his international debut for Croatia against Cyprus in September 2014.
