Last week Radamel Falcao proved his match fitness and finally worked his way towards earning a permanent place at Manchester United today with that beautiful header versus Aston Villa. It provided the only scoring for the Red Devils as they ended up with a 1-1 draw at AVFC.
The back-story of how Falcao got here is quite interesting though. He opened up about how he knew his departure from Atletico Madrid would be swift and inevitable.
Falcao knew he would have to leave “due to economic problems the club was experiencing.”
“I knew it would be difficult to remain at the club, principally due to the difficult financial situation that the club was experiencing at the time,” he told Spanish football magazine, Libero.
“There was constant talk of the need to sell me at the end of the season so I was well aware of the situation. After just four months I knew my time at Atleti was to be brief…
“I’ve enjoyed playing everywhere. I’ve been happy everywhere in my life. Maybe the happiest times where shortly after arriving in Europe, at my time in both FC Porto and at Atlético Madrid. I’m very proud of everything I’ve achieved at every club that I’ve been fortunate to play for.”
Asked if a football player in charge of his own destiny, Falcao replied:
“No, I’d say not. It makes me laugh at times when I get asked why I didn’t stay at a particular club or why I haven’t moved to another side, as if they player has a choice in the matter.”
“I’d say back to journalists, why don’t you work at CNN or ESPN? It’s the same in football. On very few occasions can the player make the decision to move from one club or to another. There have been occasions when I’ve not been able to live in the way I want, many times. I want to go to a particular club and in finally I end up at another.”
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net ,which is partners with Fox Sports. Read his feature stories in the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. Listen to him on KOZN 1620 The Zone. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks). His work has been featured in hundreds of media outlets including The Washington Post and ESPN 2