Manchester United undecided on Radamel Falcao

Manchester United reportedly haven’t made a decision on Radamel Falcao’s future at the club, with Ed Woodward having met with Monaco executives to discuss the striker’s future.

United’s chief executive met with the Ligue 1 side and told Vice President Vadim Vasilyev that the Red Devils will be waiting until the end of the season to decide on a permanent signing.

The news is pretty shocking to be honest. With Falcao only having scored four goals during this season’s loan, all signs point to an exit come the end of the season. Even worse than the statistics is the fact that he hasn’t been anywhere near the class he showed in the time before his knee injury.

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While it’s true some of the blame can be shifted to the ongoing recovery from a serious injury, it’s been a long time since Falcao returned to full fitness. He hasn’t shown any consistent improvement, aside from glimpses of his old form coming few and far between.

Fans have attempted to justify the Colombian’s poor form, citing reasons such as struggling with the physicality and pace of the Premier League and not getting consistent first team action. Saturday’s match against Chelsea marked the first time he returned to the starting lineup since playing 67 minutes in February’s 2-0 win over Sunderland.

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But the fact of the matter is that there really aren’t any viable excuses for the once-great striker. He hasn’t seen a lengthy run of play because he hasn’t deserved it and Rooney has been brilliant. The squad has been in fine form and the players finally seem to understand their roles within Louis van Gaal’s philosophy. Falcao has yet to find his role; he came close to scoring against Chelsea when he struck the post on a tight angle but otherwise put forth a poor showing.

In that match, United conceded the only goal off of Falcao losing possession through a John Terry tackle. There was plenty of debate around whether or not the play should have been a foul, but the striker still went down far too easily. He has the stature to hold his ground, but more often than not it seems he’s going to ground in the hopes of winning a foul.

To make the loan deal a permanent transfer, United would need to shell out £43.5m. That’s an extremely steep price for a player who has more question marks than goals. There are plenty of other players to target with that kind of money, like Alexandre Lacazette or Paulo Dybala as just two of the names being thrown around.

Monaco manager Leonardo Jardim still thinks the loanee can return to his top form:

"“He’s not had a great season that is true, but I’m sure he can come back to the levels he was at in the past – that much I’m convinced about.”"

Vasilyev discussed the ongoing negotiations:

"“I saw the Manchester United people last Sunday and they have not yet decided if they would exercise the option.”“It’s not his best season, but they kept the opportunity to make a decision at the end of the season.”“We are not in any other negotiations, even if big clubs are interested. The decision is with Manchester, then we will discuss with the player what he wants. I would like to have more visibility.”"

There’s still the possibility of Monaco lowering the transfer fee, but in my opinion they’d need to virtually cut it in half to make the move worthwhile. I recognize there’s the potential for the 29-year-old to regain his world-class ability, but for how long? Looking at Robin van Persie as an example, United could expect to get one or two years of top play out of Falcao, and that’s if he ever gets back to that level.

To put it bluntly, and as unfortunate as it may be, it seems like Falcao’s time at Old Trafford should be and will be over come the end of the season.

Next: Who must United sign this summer?