Radamel Falcao last night declared that playing for “one of the truly great teams” like Manchester United was a lifetime’s ambition, after the Old Trafford club committed around £19m (Dh115.9m) to bring him from Monaco for just one loan season.
Falcao was desperate to leave Monaco and, though United were not his first choice, their offer was the only one on the table by yesterday morning. But he said of his new club: “It’s a dream come true to join a club like Manchester United, one of the biggest clubs in the world.
"I’ve always dreamt about playing for one of the truly great teams and winning lots of trophies. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity and you can’t turn that down. I’m a huge fan of English football and watch it whenever I can. Now the reality is I’m going to play there.”
The Colombian striker touched down at Manchester Airport at 18:48pm (21:48 UAE time) last night for a medical at United’s Carrington training ground.
The £6m (Dh36.6m) signing-on fee United have agreed to pay for the 28-year-old takes their outlay on players beyond £150m (Dh915m) this summer. But it is by agreeing to the Colombian’s wages that they take the biggest financial hit. Other Premier League clubs were quoted £18m-a-year (Dh109.8m) – £346,000-a-week (Dh2.1m) – when Falcao’s representatives first began touting him around, last week.
It is unlikely United have paid more than £300,000 (Dh1.8m) and the figure may be closer to Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie’s £250,000-per-week (Dh1.5m). United have an option to buy the player for €55m (Dh265m) at the end of the season.
The move was attractive to United because it allowed them to release both Javier Hernandez, who has gone on loan to Real Madrid, and Danny Welbeck, who joined Arsenal last night for around £16m (Dh97.6m) after insisting that he would not join Tottenham.
But it also allowed United, who are struggling to make headway in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, to affirm that they are capable of signing the world’s best players when they come on to the market.
The choreography is of huge significance to a club who are trying to demonstrate their presence in a way that Manchester City were five years ago.
Welbeck’s on-off departure to Arsenal was a dramatic one. Having trained at Arsenal’s centre, London Colney, with England yesterday morning, he was given the afternoon off to sort out his future and turned up at Colney again – seemingly in an attempt to force a move. Arsène Wenger, Arsenal’s manager, was in Rome at a charity event but Welbeck last night completed his move rather than a £6m loan deal.
The possibility of a move for Falcao began to materialise on Monday last week, when the player’s agent, Jorge Mendes, arrived in Manchester to begin discussions about the deal taking Angel Di Maria – another of his clients – to Old Trafford. At that stage, City seemed to be in pole position.
But despite the club’s director of football, Txiki Begiristain, in Monaco for the Champions League draw last Thursday, having talks at the French club, he was resigned to missing out on a player they would have gladly taken last summer, due to needing to sell too many players in too short a space of time to comply with Financial Fair Play.
Elsewhere in the Premier League, Hull made Uruguay striker Abel Hernandez their club record signing after bringing in the 24-year-old on a three-year deal from Palermo for a fee believed to be £9.5m (Dh57.9m), having earlier allowed winger George Boyd to join Burnley for a reported £3m (Dh18.3m) and Southampton winger Gaston Ramirez on loan.
Midfielder Mohamed Diame has also move to the KC Stadium from West Ham while Swansea signed Gambian striker Modou Barrow, 21, from Swedish club Ostersunds FK.
