Radamel Falcao latest: Manchester City bookies favourite but Arsenal also interested as Monaco put £20m loan fee on Colombian striker

Manchester City fell from 16/1 to 5/4

Tom Sheen
Saturday 30 August 2014 13:39 BST
Comments
Radamel Falcao
Radamel Falcao (Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Bookies have slashed the price on Radamel Falcao joining Manchester City, but the Monaco striker is still believed to favour a move to Real Madrid.

Falcao, 28, was priced at 16/1 early this morning but his City were installed as the bookies favourites with the current price at around 5/4.

Monaco, according to various reports, will ask for a £20m loan fee for the Colombian, who is desperate to leave Ligue 1 after just one injury hit season.

Falcao is believed to prefer a move to Spanish giants Real Madrid but Los Blancos have already spent big on Toni Kroos, Falcao's former Monaco team-mate James Rodriguez and goalkeeper Keylor Navas.

Carlo Ancelotti may not want to pay such a steep fee for a loan having committed Karim Benzema to a new contract earlier this summer.

Should a deal to Real Madrid fail to materialise, City and Arsenal are both said to be ready to pounce.

However, Falcao also commands £200,000-a-week in wages meaning a total package could cost more than £30m with no guarantee that the Colombian would stay more than a year.

Arsenal are in need of a striker after Olivier Giroud was ruled out until at least December with an ankle injury, but Arsene Wenger on Friday said he could cover the striker from within his current squad.

"We have Yaya Sanogo, we have Alexis Sanchez, we have Theo Walcott, we have Lukas Podolski," he said in a press conference.

City already have a plethora of options up front with Sergio Aguero, Edin Dzeko, Stevan Jovetic and Alvaro Negredo - three of those scored more than 20 goals last season while the fourth, Jovetic, put in a man of the match display against Liverpool on Monday.

Negredo is currently injured and expected back in mid-September.

Falcao scored 11 goals in just 19 matches for Monaco last season after his £50m move from Atletico Madrid. In the previous four seasons for Atletico and Porto he scored an incredible 142 in 187 matches.

Falcao already has two in three matches in Ligue 1 this season.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in