Maybe, for once, this is the real deal. Between Falcao scoring a hat trick against Chelsea in the European Super Cup, Fernando Torres looking like his usual self (not scoring) and Atletico Madrid in what seems to be deep financial trouble, the Colombian striker may be making his way to London very soon.
Falcao cost Atletico Madrid €40 million just over a year ago, but it just may be that the transfer, among other done over the last couple of seasons, were a bit too much for the club to actually pay for. Too many loans and not enough revenue, with UEFA cracking down on those who don’t have a way to back their spending without the owner covering too much for the losses (as long as they’re not a really big or rich club), Atletico might soon be in a need to sell some players.
And there’s no one who is hot in the market quite as Falcao. The Colombian has scored 44 goals in 55 matches for the club since arriving, leading them to win the Europa League and Super Cup in 2012. He was already building himself quite a reputation scoring endlessly for Porto, but the real attention comes from big leagues and big stages. It seemed like his performance against Chelsea last month in the Super Cup was the final touch.
The clubs are already in preliminary talks regarding the transfer, which will obviously be accepted by the player and his father, who probably prefers his son to play for Real Madrid. It’s quite unclear how Chelsea are going to live up and follow through with the financial regulations having already spent £82 million this summer alone. Falcao won’t cost anything less than the £32 spent by Atletico. However, it’s hard to think of Platini, right now, actually messing with the more notable clubs of the Champions League.
Roman Abramovich is personally pushing for this to happen, which suggests that this transfer could be a done deal sooner than anyone thought. Being burned by Falcao once, fearing of other clubs stepping in on the deal and seeing as the start to the season is filled with Premier League wins but not enough goals or actually playing too well, the owner feels it’s already a time for a shakeup with the best player the market can currently offer.
With yet another quality attacking player coming to the club (which may not be the solution to the problems at all), the excuses for Roberto Di Matteo, if the ship doesn’t keep moving in the same direction and doesn’t impress the owner, will be useless when it’s time to evaluate his work.