A report from the Daily Mail from Tuesday evening indicates that Colombian striker Radamel Falcao has been offered to the newly crowned Premier League champions should they be interested in bringing him in on loan in the summer transfer window.
It is well known that Chelsea are in the market for a striker after an unsteady season up front in which leading scorer Diego Costa battled numerous hamstring injuries, while second-choice Loïc Rémy suffered untimely groin and calf injuries that forced 37-year-old Didier Drogba into action as the club’s lone healthy option up top. The ageing legend Drogba is believed to be on his way out this summer after his one-year return to West London, and the Blues will need to fortify their strike force before next season to avoid the depth issues they experienced in this year’s Premier League and League Cup winning campaign.
Whether or not Falcao is the right striker to fill that void is uncertain at best, however.
After moving to FC Porto from Argentinian River Plate for €3.9 million in summer of 2009, Falcao quickly established himself as an elite goal-scorer in Europe. In his first season at Porto in 2009-10, El Tigre needed just 28 league appearances to net 25 goals and he registered 34 goals in all competitions by season’s end. In two years with FC Porto, Falcao scored 72 goals in total in 87 appearances, which led to his signing by Atlético Madrid for a club-record fee of €40 million in August of 2011.
Falcao continued to find success in Spain, scoring 36 goals in his first campaign with Los Rojiblancos in 2011-12, and following that up with a 34-goal season in 2012-13. Atléti won the Copa del Rey, the UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Super Cup during Falcao’s time in Madrid, which led to another big money transfer in the summer of 2013, this time to French side Monaco for a reported €60 million fee.
After scoring nine goals in 17 Ligue 1 appearances for Monaco, Falcao sustained a severe knee injury in January of 2014 in a French Cup match, ending his season and eliminating him from participation in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil for his native Colombia. Monaco proceeded to send the forward out on loan for the entirety of the 2014-15 season, with Manchester United agreeing to take him on for £6 million with an option to sign him permanently.
Falcao’s season with United has been a disappointment, with the striker registering only four goals and four assists in 26 appearances for the club. This failure means that Manchester United are very unlikely to keep him on board for next season, and the Mail have reported that Falcao said his goodbyes at the Stretford End at Old Trafford last weekend.
Monaco will now look to loan Falcao out once again, and Chelsea are being reported as possible suitors. However, a loan move for Falcao would not seem to fit well in Chelsea’s plans, given his immense £222,000-a-week wages, which are more than CFC’s highest paid player currently, Eden Hazard, who is on a £200,000 weekly salary. Couple Falcao’s lofty price tag with the fact that he has looked a shadow of his old self following last year’s knee injury, and it wouldn’t seem likely that he would be headed to Stamford Bridge.
Falcao does share super agent Jorge Mendes with Chelsea manager José Mourinho, however, and there is no doubt that Falcao is one of the world’s best strikers when he is fully healthy. In form, Falcao’s pace and finishing ability – both aerially and with either foot – make him a terror at the No. 9 position. His superb scoring record of 153 goals in just 197 club appearances illustrates his proficiency in front of goal.
However, with Chelsea’s recent history with Fernando Torres, who saw his goal scoring numbers and his trademark pace decline rapidly after suffering a similar injury to Falcao’s prior to coming to Stamford Bridge, the Blues would be wary of the gamble of taking on a dwindling forward on such high wages.
Because of Chelsea’s need to improve depth at striker and the Blues’ ability to spend this summer, this is a report to monitor, although it would seem unlikely to happen on the surface.
