Columbian forward Radamel Falcao snubbed the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal to sign for Manchester United, his dad has claimed.
Falcao turned heads with his stellar performances and goals galore at Porto before a dazzling stint at Atletico Madrid, where he bagged back-to-back Europa League titles in 2011 and 2012, plus the 2012 UEFA Super Cup after a win over Chelsea.
But his tenure at Monaco was marred by a serious knee injury, and the prolific scorer was destined for a big summer switch in 2014. Louis van Gaal and United sealed the deal, landing Falcao on loan with an eye-watering £43.5million option to make it permanent – with rival fans no doubt later breathing a sigh of relief as he turned out to be a colossal waste of money.
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Chatting to Colombian radio, Falcao’s father, Radamel Garciawho – who also donned the national colours as a defender during the star-studded 1980 Moscow Olympics – gave his thoughts on the Red Devils’ rival clubs that his son turned down for a chance to shine at Old Trafford, reports the Mirror.
He explained: “Manchester United is the most important team in England and one of the most powerful financially,” beamed Garcia. “Juventus, Manchester City, Liverpoo l also approached him and Arsenal at the last minute. Fortunately, he ended up at Manchester United, a great team that he has to lead forward.”
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(Image: AFP/Getty Images)
Just before Colombian Falcao made his big move to Manchester United, he dropped a social media clanger with a tweet that screamed ‘Hala Madrid. ‘ Despite being a loyal player for Atletico Madrid, it seemed Falcao was manoeuvring for a switch to their arch-rivals Real Madrid.
But a deal never materialised, and instead of donning the white of Los Blancos, Falcao found himself jetting off to Manchester. His dad later revealed the inside scoop on why the Bernabeu move never happened, saying: “Things did not happen with Real Madrid because if you have money and you go to the shops to buy a shirt or trousers, you have to decide if you buy it or not.
“So Real Madrid opted not to do it, and you can’t do anything about that. Apart from that, I don’t know, I have a feeling they wanted the player to offer himself as a gift with a number of conditions and things like that.”
He added: “It didn’t happen because, as I said, they decided to buy the trousers and the shirt they wanted, and they considered what was better for them, and you have to accept that because they are the ones who pay the money. Thank God, everything happened with Manchester United.”
However, Falcao’s stint in the Premier League was nothing short of a letdown compared to his glory days in Spain and France. During his brief tenure at United, he only managed to net four times in 29 appearances, even finding himself demoted to the Under-21s squad a far cry from his expected impact.
He then made his way back to Monaco, only to be swiftly dispatched back to England to join Chelsea, a club that had long admired him. This move, which mirrored United’s an initial loan with a £38m buy option proved even more disastrous; the forward managed to score just one goal before a severe thigh injury prematurely ended his year-long stint.
Falcao, who is now 38, continues to play football, having recently returned to his home country of Colombia to play for the 16-time champions Millonarios, based in Bogota.