Radamel Falcao to Chelsea: Latest Transfer Details, Reaction and More
Chelsea have confirmed the signing of Radamel Falcao on a season-long loan from AS Monaco.
The Blues announced the deal via their official website on Friday and released the following image on their Twitter feed welcoming the player to Stamford Bridge:
"I am very happy to be joining Chelsea and can't wait to start training and help with our aim of retaining the league title and being successful in Europe," said the forward, per the aforementioned link.
The Colombian joins the English champions after a tumultuous spell at Manchester United in 2014-15 and will be hoping to rediscover the form that made him one of the most feared forwards in European football prior to his move to Monaco in 2013.
As Squawka Football reveals here, the striker only found the back of the net four times in the Premier League last season:
But with Didier Drogba departed, Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has jumped at the chance to bring the striker back to English football, and it’ll be intriguing to see where the forward fits into this Blues squad.
If the Portuguese can get a tune out of the former Atletico Madrid man, he’ll be a tremendous acquisition. During his time in La Liga Falcao showcased razor-sharp instincts in front of goal, regularly running Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo close in the race for the top goalscorer accolades.
It’s been a while since we saw that version of Falcao, though. Sam Pilger of FourFourTwo thinks the transfer is a strange one from Mourinho:
Indeed, since picking up a horrific knee injury at Monaco, the Colombian has never looked the same player. The Premier League was too quick for Falcao last season, with games buzzing on around him while he often resembled an ornamental figure at the point of the Red Devils' attack.
Mourinho has taken gambles on strikers before, though. During his time at Real Madrid, he signed Emmanuel Adebayor, while aside from luring an ageing Drogba back to Chelsea last season he also brought Samuel Eto’o to Stamford Bridge for the 2013-14 season. It's clearly a facet of his squad where the Portuguese thinks he can roll the dice.
Nonetheless, while signing Falcao is a big gamble that seems to have been met with bemused quips from the Twitter cognoscenti, OptaJoe offers some hope to Blues supporters that may be concerned about the deal:
Indeed, it takes players a long time to recover after such a sustained layoff, and a team going through a major transitional phase like United probably wasn’t the best environment to rekindle a spark, in hindsight. The change in systems, style and personnel did little to aid Falcao’s prospects either.
But will he get the game time he needs at Chelsea to reshape those qualities? Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wilson isn’t so sure:
Regardless, there’s an onus on the striker to make good on the wonderful opportunity that he has been handed. When he does start matches, he’ll be spearheading the finest team in the Premier League and a side that will create a plethora of chances for him; there's absolutely no excuses moving forward.
The Falcao of Atletico would relish the mixture of fluidity and functionality the Blues play with. But without regular minutes on the field, it’s tough to see where the 29-year-old will get the time to rediscover those once revered goalscoring instincts.
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