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Manchester United grabbed the biggest catch on the transfer deadline day after they captured the signature of ace striker Radamel Falcao from AS Monaco. The 28-year-old joined the Red Devils on a season-long loan after both parties agreed to a loan fee of £6 million, having the option to sign him on a permanent basis for £43.4 million after the 2014/15 campaign concludes.
Recent reports have suggested that he rejected moves to English rivals Manchester City and Liverpool, both of whom offered Champions League football this season to join the Old Trafford outfit.
Third party rights stopped him from joining United previously
From the perspective of all the Old Trafford faithful, the addition of the high-profile Colombian hitman comes as a news of sheer excitement and surprise at the same time, especially when the current woes and problems at the club are taken into account. But what can be surprising for most is the fact that this transfer was longtime overdue for the Premier League outfit.
It is not the first time that Falcao has been linked to the 20-time Premier League champions. While establishing himself as a world class forward in Spain with Atletico Madrid, Falcao was linked to several household names in Europe including Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester United. But despite of all the strong speculations, the Colombian completed a confusing move to then newly promoted Ligue 1 outfit AS Monaco.
Of course, depriving himself from European football and opting to go in France was against the wishes of Falcao when the third party ownership scenario behind his transfer were revealed. The concept behind these ownership rights is that the investment companies own the player of a particular club, pay him a larger salary in addition to his club salary, move the player to bigger clubs, and sell him to the highest bidders to get the investment back.
It was said that Falcao’s 55% transfer rights were bought by a third-party ownership group as part of his transfer to Porto. The company paid his salary at Porto, moved him to Atletico Madrid for better exposure, and eventually started working on the biggest possible moves for the player which would see them cash in.And without having any say in his transfer matters, AS Monaco emerged as the only club interested to pay €60M to the investors.
His nation’s legend suggested him to play for the Red Devils
While that was one of the primary reasons behind a failed United move in spite of having the desire to join them, another major factor that worked behind Falcao’s preference to play at the Theatre of Dreams was the advise given to him by Colombian legend Faustino Asprilla.
Asprilla, who most notably played for Parma and Newcastle United, had suggested him during the summer transfer window of 2013 that Manchester United is the right place for him to play.
Asprilla said,
“We were talking and he asked me my opinion on who he should join. He knows that every big club in the world wants him. He is not a player motivated by money – what he wants is somewhere that his family will be happy and where he will have success. With teams like Real Madrid, PSG, Manchester City they have good times then they have bad times – that is why I told him he must choose Manchester United.”
“Every season they are challenging – and if he wants success that is where I have told him to go. Also, they don’t have all the behaviour away from the field – with changing coaches every season. They are steady in all that they do – and a well run club at every level. He is a real family guy – and Radamel will appreciate that and the way that Sir Alex Ferguson protects his players like family.”
Asprilla also compared Falcao to Alan Shearer and said, “It is difficult for me to explain how good he is – he is the best finisher in the world. The only striker who has played in the Premier League who is on his finishing level is Alan Shearer. If he signs for Manchester United – he would be their missing piece in the Champions League.Robin van Persie and Radamel would be unstoppable.’”
With an imminent move overdue for quite sometime, now we finally realise that Falcao was destined to join the Red Devils.
