Radamel Falcao to Monaco: Reds Sign Coveted Striker to 5-Year Deal

Monaco have won the Radamel Falcao sweepstakes, landing the coveted striker on a five-year deal, reports the Reds' website. Nick Sabetti of Goal.com reported that the club paid €60 million to get him from Atletico Madrid. 

Monaco club president Dmitry Rybolovlev had this to say, per the report: 

"

We are absolutely delighted that Radamel Falco has accepted the challenge of coming to play for AS Monaco FC. We are proud to have secured one of the best players in the world and confident that he will help ASMFC regain its rightful status.

"

The club's Twitter feed has already welcomed the superstar striker to the team.

Falcao leaves Atletico Madrid after two successful seasons. He scored 52 goals in La Liga play over that span, ranking him behind only Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. His previous stops included Porto and River Plate.

The 27-year-old Colombian international has skyrocketed to fame in recent years. He's even reached a point where being mentioned in the same sentence as Messi and Ronaldo is common, and clubs around Europe took notice.

What Falcao brings to his new club is quite simple: elite finishing ability. Few strikers in the world have shown the same natural instincts in the final third. When given touches in dangerous areas, he usually finds a way to convert.

The main reason he generated so much attention is because there are so few players on whom teams can rely to provide consistent, top-tier offensive production. And those that do are normally extremely tough to come by on the transfer market.

So a player with Falcao's track record and remaining upside commanded a high price. Now he must prove his worth again, just like he did with Porto and Atletico Madrid. Every move has come with raised expectations, and that will be the case once again.

That said, Falcao has the skill set necessary to keep producing tremendously. The only difference will be having to deal with the added pressure of joining a team for such a large fee while also being considered one of the top players at his position in the world.

While he was trending in that direction before moving to Atletico, it wasn't until he put together his first big season in La Liga that he moved into the upper echelon of strikers. He must find a way to stay there in order to prove he was worth the investment.

As always, a major deal like the one Falcao received always comes with inherent risk. Clubs that pour a large amount of resources into one player are betting he will provide the boost they need. It doesn't always work out—Fernando Torres comes to mind as an example.

The talented Falcao also sent fans a message, telling them he was looking forward to joining the club. 

The choice comes down to risk against reward. The potential reward of adding Falcao, which is receiving one of the best strikers in the world to provide more offense, outweighs the risk of him falling flat after the move.

It probably won't take long to find out if the right decision was made.