Manchester United took their summer spending past £150 million last night after signing Radamel Falcao, the prolific Monaco striker, in one of the most expensive season-long loan deals in history.
On a dramatic final day of the transfer window, Falcao became the sixth significant arrival of a chaotic summer at Old Trafford after Manchester City turned down the chance to sign the Colombian when they were told that it would cost £29 million to fund the deal.
United, whose huge financial splurge underlines their desperation to avoid a second successive season out of the Champions League, have the option of signing the 28-year-old permanently for €55 million (about £43.5 million) next summer.
The club also formally confirmed the £14 million signing of Daley Blind, the versatile Holland player, from Ajax on a four-year contract last night with the option of a further year.
Falcao’s arrival persuaded United to allow Danny Welbeck to leave for Arsenal in a £16 million deal. The England striker signed a five-year deal after the Premier League granted Arsenal an extension to complete the transfer. United had originally been opposed to selling Welbeck to a top-four rival.
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Javier Hernández also left United, the Mexico striker joining Real Madrid on a season-long loan, although Tom Cleverley will be staying at Old Trafford for the time being after United blocked a loan move to Everton and Aston Villa could not meet the England midfielder’s wage demands.
City had been informed that they would have to pay an £11 million loan fee to Monaco in addition to meeting Falcao’s £18 million-a-year wages — the equivalent of £346,000 a week — although senior figures at United insisted the sum was substantially less.
United are thought to be paying Falcao closer to £12 million a year in wages, which would give him parity with Robin van Persie and Ángel di María, their British record £59.7 million signing from Real, but fall short of Wayne Rooney’s £300,000-a-week salary.
Having only recently returned to action after suffering a torn left anterior cruciate ligament in January that ruled him out of the World Cup finals in Brazil and acknowledging that the UK does not benefit from the same tax exemptions as Monaco, Falcao is believed to have accepted that a drop in wages was inevitable.
There was less clarity over the size of the loan fee. Sources at United claimed that it was about £6 million, but other figures close to the deal put it at almost double that, which still represents a significant drop from Monaco’s initial £16 million asking price.
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Falcao arrived at Manchester airport by private jet shortly after 5.45pm last night before being taken to United’s Carrington training ground to undergo a medical.
Nicknamed “El Tigre” — the Tiger — Falcao, who joined Monaco in a £52 million from Atletico Madrid only last year, has scored 200 goals in 305 career club appearances and was once described by Pep Guardiola, the Bayern Munich and former Barcelona coach, as “the best penalty-box forward in the world”.
Falcao’s goal threat aside, Van Gaal believes that the arrival of the Colombian and Di María will help to inject some pace and dynamism into United’s team as he bids to secure a place in the top four. United’s failure to qualify for the Champions League this season will cost the club £35 million in lost revenue.
United have endured a miserable start to the season, taking two points from nine, and Van Gaal is understood to be giving serious consideration to abandoning his experiment with a three-man defence and switching to 4-3-3, not least because of the club’s failure to sign a world-class centre half this summer, despite the departures of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic.
With Wayne Rooney having been appointed captain by Van Gaal and Robin van Persie — who was Holland captain under Van Gaal — a favourite of the manager, Juan Mata is likely to be the player with most to lose now.
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Only nine months have passed since United signed Mata from Chelsea for £37.1 million, but Van Gaal is thought to harbour concerns about the Spaniard’s lack of pace.