It is widely reported that Radamel Falcao is close to extending his spell at Manchester United into a permanent deal. The Colombian international joined the Premier league giants on a loan spell till the end of the season.
It was reported that the loan fee alone was in the region of £ 6 million, while there was a clause that enabled him to move permanently for £ 43 million additionally. This would value him at just under £ 50 million, which is the price Monaco paid for him 12 months ago from Atletico Madrid.
Falcao has been speaking out about staying at United, despite having scored just one goal so far. The striker has not been amongst the goals were a regular basis primarily because manager Louis Van Gaal is still working out his best formation and personnel. If there was a stumbling block in the deal, it would have been the player’s astronomical wage demands. Falcao currently earns around £ 350,000 per week since he was not prepared to take a salary cut to join United. He appears to have been convinced by his agent Jorge Mendes that a salary in the region of £ 250,000 per week would be acceptable.
Juventus, in the meantime, have revealed that they also came close to signing Falcao only to lose out to United in the summer. “We were following him and there was contact. We were very close to [signing] Falcao and the player preferred Italy and our colours, but then United came forward and they have much more spending power than we do so the deal broke down,” said the Juventus managing director Beppe Marotta. Falcao missed the latest high-profile match with Chelsea, but he is likely to feature against Manchester City on Sunday. Wayne Rooney could also be back for this match after completing his suspension.