Reports in the Daily Mirror this weekend are suggesting that Liverpool are keeping a watchful eye on Radamel Falcao’s transfer situation. The Colombian forward spent last season at Manchester United but is unlikely to stay at Old Trafford after struggling for form and game-time.
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United are reportedly ready to give up on Falcao as they step up their pursuit of Harry Kane. AS Monaco are unlikely to be able to afford to take him back – after a year not paying his huge wages – although Chelsea appear to be ready to take a punt on him as they seek competition for Diego Costa.
However, Liverpool’s name also remains in the frame – as it’s likely to do with every striker going this summer – as we look for a marquee forward who can play alongside Daniel Sturridge, Danny Ings and Divock Origi.
Could Falcao be that man? We consider the pros and cons of such a move below, with a conclusion at the end:
Pros:
- Goals – Falcao has always scored a lot of them. During four years at Porto and Atletico Madrid he netted 142 of them in all competitions. He also netted 11 in 19 games during his first season at Monaco, where he struggled with a couple of injury problems.
- Marquee name – Some would say Liverpool need to make a statement. While the addition of Milner, Ings and Bogdan on free transfers is good business, we need something that will get the fans excited and make people sit up and take notice. Falcao would certainly do that.
- He wasn’t given a fair shot at United – People will point out his less than impressive record at United. But he was barely used by Louis van Gaal. His confidence was low and he was given no time to recover from his long-term injury which ruled him out of that summer’s World Cup. We’d love to prove our old rivals wrong.
- South American success – Luis Suarez and Philippe Coutinho have both been big hits at Anfield in recent years. These players tend to do even better in the Premier League than players bought on the continent so what’s to say Falcao could not be another of those smart additions.
- His price has fallen – After a couple of difficult years battling injury his asking price is likely to be at its lowest in six or seven years. Monaco are unlikely to be able to afford to keep him and if they’re actively looking to sell then that gives us a great chances to do business.
Cons:
- Injuries – Let’s get the most obvious point out of the way first. Falcao has only featured in 46 league games over the last two years. For the most part, his absence was all down to one injury – a knee injury which ruled him out for six months. However, he’s still not hit top form since then and might never be the same again.
- Wages – Falcao’s wage demands are likely to stretch us severely, even with the likes of Suarez, Gerrard, Carragher, Reina and Johnson having gone in the last couple of years. Falcao was reportedly on around £346,000-per-week at Old Trafford last season (via the Star), something we simply could not match.
- United – Falcao has spent a season at United, something which tends not to go down all that well with Liverpool fans. No player has moved directly between the two clubs in more than 50 years and while Monaco would technically be the team to sell him to us, we’d effectively be taking Louis van Gaal’s player.
- Age – He’s already 29 and arguably past his peak – could we justify spending such huge money on an ageing player whose only experience of English football in his career so far did not end well at all?
- Style of play – This depends on how you look at it. Some would say we need a different type of striker, considering the lack of success we’ve had over the last twelve months, but Falcao certainly won’t be a natural at the pressing style Brendan Rodgers favours.
Conclusion
Would we take Falcao at Liverpool? It would certainly be an interesting experiment. It would be great to get one over on United by proving them wrong about a player they barely used.
However, it would be a huge risk to pay the kind of transfer fee and wages that he’d almost certainly come with, if indeed we could afford it at all. If he became the latest in a long line of striking flops then we might never live it down.
On the other hand, we’re screaming out for proven quality. And is anyone with a better record realistically going to be available during the summer transfer window? We’d certainly say he’d be worth taking over Christian Benteke this summer, who would cost us more than £30m anyway.
If we could convince him to take a sizeable wage cut, perhaps with some decent performance related bonuses, then he might be worth a risk. He’s as close to a calculated gamble as we are probably capable of considering our current position.
What do you think? Let us know in the comment section below.
