Chelsea confirm season-long loan deal for Monaco’s Radamel Falcao

Posted Sunday, July 05, 2015 by theguardian.com

· ‘I am very happy to be joining Chelsea and can’t wait to start training’
· Chelsea’s Mario Pasalic moves to Monaco on loan as part of the deal

Radamel Falcao was named as Colombia’s captain for this summer’s Copa América but managed just one shot in open play all tournament.

Chelsea have finally confirmed the arrival of Radamel Falcao from Monaco on a season-long loan with the Croatia international midfielder, Mario Pasalic, moving in the opposite direction to spend the forthcoming campaign at Stade Louis II.

Falcao, who managed only four goals in 29 appearances during a similar stint with Manchester United last season, will join up with his new club-mates during their pre-season tour of North America. He is expected to report to the team’s base in Montreal on either 19 or 20 July having been granted extra time off following his participation in the Copa América with Colombia.

"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 Falcao, who had excelled with River Plate, Porto and Atlético Madrid before his £50m move to Monaco in the summer of 2013. His progress on the Côte d’Azur was subsequently wrecked by a serious knee ligament injury sustained midway through his first season at the club which ruled him out of last summer’s World Cup finals in Brazil.

The Colombian struggled to recapture that form under Louis van Gaal at Old Trafford, but José Mourinho, who pushed for the move to be completed with Didier Drogba having now left Chelsea under freedom of contract, was keen to work with the player and reunite him with his former Atlético team-mates Diego Costa and Thibaut Courtois. A third, Filipe Luís, is expected to return to Vicente Calderón this summer. “For a player of his level and quality, it’s a real shame people in England think Falcao is the player who was at Manchester United,” said Mourinho in an interview with the Latin American station DirecTV Sports last month.

Monaco had explored the possibility of taking a number of Chelsea’s younger players on loan for the new campaign, and had expressed an interest in Pasalic and the Belgian youngster, Charly Musonda.

The Croatian, signed from Hajduk Split last summer and loaned to Elche in La Liga last term, will now spend the new campaign developing his game in the south of France. Marseille have joined Rayo Vallecano in inquiring with the Premier League champions over the possibility of taking the 18-year-old forward Jeremie Boga, a native of the city, on a season-long loan.