Real Madrid News

The Colombian is quite rightly regarded as one of the most lethal finishers in world football but he now seems set to take a step down in level solely for financial gain

COMMENT
By Mark Doyle

Radamel Falcao is arguably the third-best forward in the world, coveted by Europe’s biggest clubs and at 27-years-old set to embark on the prime of his career. Yet he is now poised to join the champions of Ligue 2. How could any true football fan be anything but bewildered by that last statement?

Of course, the Atletico Madrid ace does not owe us neutrals anything. He has got where he is today all on his own; through a combination of exceptional talent and hard work. He deserves his success. He deserves his wealth (as much as any top footballer can truly ‘deserve’ the ridiculous riches bestowed upon him by the modern game).

FALCAO’S RECORD IN EUROPE
PORTO
GAMES PLAYED GOALS SCORED GOALS TO GAME RATIO	87 72 0.82
ATLETICO MADRID
GAMES PLAYED GOALS SCORED GOALS TO GAME RATIO	87 69 0.79

As Tottenham’s refreshingly honest Benoit Assou-Ekotto likes to point out, injury can curtail a career at any moment, so the onus is on a rational-thinking professional to make as much money as possible while he can.

However, Falcao has already been handsomely rewarded for his ability to place a ball in the back of a net with great regularity, having been the subject of two multi-million euro transfer deals during an eight-year professional career that has taken him from Argentina to Spain via Portugal.

His next move was always guaranteed to be his most lucrative. Indeed, Chelsea were willing to meet the Colombian’s reported €60 million buy-out clause in order to take him to Stamford Bridge on what would have been a very handsome wage.

Regardless of how the game views the Blues, and the way in which they have acquired their domestic and European success, one would have at least been able to accept Falcao at face value if upon signing for the Premier League outfit, he had claimed that he had joined Chelsea in order to realise his ambition of winning the Champions League. Given the Londoners lifted the trophy last year, we might very well have believed him when he said it wasn’t about the money.

However, how else are we expected to react to the news that he is instead set to move to Monaco than by presuming that Falcao is motivated solely by financial gain? Surely he won’t have the audacity to claim that he has been lured to Monte Carlo by anything other than a near tax-exempt status that will enable him to earn a net salary of €10m-per-year? Surely he won’t insult our intelligence by suggesting that he is driven by anything other than avarice? Surely he won’t speak of ‘new challenges’ and ‘exciting projects’, as Samuel Eto’o did when he accepted a world-record wage to join Anzhi Makhachkala two years ago?

At least in Eto’o’s case, he could hide behind the fact that he had won all there was to win in the club game. The Cameroonian arrived in Russia a three-time Champions League winner; Falcao is merely the ‘King of the Europa League’.

THE VIEW FROM SPAIN

Falcao signed up with Portuguese super-agent Jorge Mendes in 2011 and that led many to believe he would be moving to Madrid. And he did – but to Atletico and not Real. The two teams have a non-aggression pact, a gentleman’s agreement which means they cannot sign each other’s players. That stopped Sergio Aguero from crossing the city divide and it will likely halt Falcao from moving to the white side of the capital divide, too – at least for now. Mendes, whose Gestifute agency is rumoured to have put up half of the €40 million fee paid by Atletico to Porto in 2011, boasts a healthy relationship with Real as Jose Mourinho, Cristiano Ronaldo, Pepe, Ricardo Carvalho and Angel Di Maria are all on his books. And it is being speculated in Spain that the Portuguese will insert a clause into Falcao’s Monaco contract which will allow him to move to los Blancos – something he cannot (in theory) do right now. As a teenager, the Colombia striker revealed his dream to play for Real, a desire reiterated by his father last year. In the meantime, he would earn around €10 million tax free per year on the French Riviera. For a fourth season in a row, however, he would have no Champions League football. – Ben Hayward | Spanish Football Expert

Yet by moving to Monaco that moniker could be as good as it gets for Falcao in terms of his legacy. Indeed, even if les Rouge et Blanc do win their battle with the French Football Association (FFA) over an extremely advantageous tax system that will allow them to attract other money-motivated characters to Monte Carlo, it will be at least another year before Monaco are in the Champions League.

Even then, as we have seen with Paris Saint-Germain, it is likely that it will take the Dmitry Rybolovlev-owned outfit a couple of years to establish themselves among Europe’s elite. By that stage, Falcao will be pushing 30 and what should have been the best years of his career will have passed, wasted while plying his trade away from a top club and outside of a truly top league.

In a sporting sense, that would be tragic. This is a player who almost single-handedly destroyed Chelsea in this season’s Super Cup final with a hat-trick of the highest order. Four months later, he lit up Camp Nou with a goal of such class that even the home fans could not help but applaud in admiration.

It was a perfectly understandable reaction from the Barcelona faithful. It has been obvious to anyone with a modicum of interest in the game that this is a player of rare talent. He belongs at the very highest level. He deserves to be playing Champions League football every year, preferably for Atletico, whom he is eminently capable of transforming into a major European force.

Falcao has been blessed with a precious gift and it would genuinely be a crying shame if he does not realise his full potential.

As the saying goes, the saddest thing in life is wasted talent. Falcao and his army of agents and financial benefactors have made his choice. It is the wrong one. And it will shape how we remember him forever.

The Atletico coach is expecting a tough Copa del Rey final against the deposed Spanish champions and says his side have been working on their approach

Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone has admitted that Real Madrid are heavy favourites going into Friday’s Copa del Rey final.

The two capital clubs meet each other at the Santiago Bernabeu looking to scoop silverware but the Argentine is hoping his side can defy the odds.

“We can’t afford to make any mistakes against them. They’re better, without doubt, but everything changes in one game; anything’s possible,” he said at a press conference,

“We’re a side who play with commitment and humility and in the world nowadays, where everything is tough, I’d compare us to the people out there. Everything is tough.

“Hopefully we can give hope to people, and with hard work, humility, teamwork and the possibilities we have we can compete with Real Madrid and succeed.

“It’s about transmitting the good things, but today and tomorrow are special days for the players.

“The motivation only goes so far and over motivating the players is not good because you have to play first and then the rest comes: the rebellion, the fear… Because fear exists on both sides, and Madrid are no different.

“I’m expecting a game that will follow certain characteristics. Our rivals are quick and difficult to contain with three quarters of the pitch in front of them, but we’re also dangerous playing in space.

“The team that successfully manages to link up between midfield and attack will be closer to victory. That’s that way the game will go.”

Atleti have not won against Real Madrid for 14 years and suffered a 2-1 home loss to their rivals in La Liga recently but Simeone says his side have been working hard.

We’ve worked on how we can hurt them. We could’ve won the league game but we lost because of a counterattack.

“In this game the motivation is in each and every one of my players and they are all ready to win tomorrow.”

The Spain defender feels that his team-mate is happy at Real Madrid despite persistent rumours of a move to Paris Saint-Germain

Sergio Ramos has warned potential suitors of Real Madrid team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo that the 28-year-old would cost €1 billion.

The Portuguese attacker has been linked with a move to Paris Saint-Germain of late as negotiations over a new contract at the Bernabeu drag on but Ramos feels Ronaldo is happy in the Spanish capital.

“You have to see which club has €1bn to pay what he is worth,” the defender told reporters when quizzed on the French side’s interest in the former Manchester United man.

“He should be in Madrid and he is happy here.”

Madrid take on city-rivals Atletico in the Copa del Rey final on Friday and Ramos admits that failure to beat Diego Simeone’s side would put a negative spin on the whole season.

“It would be a failure in terms of titles. There are different ways of losing. If you have to lose, it should be with the same attitude as we had against Borussia Dortmund.

“There are no favourites in the final. After the Champions League, this competition is worth a little more. Injuries? There are no excuses. You play in finals to win.”

An injury to Raphael Varane means Pepe is likely to partner Ramos at centre-back but the Spaniard is happy to play with anyone.

“It’s not my call. I’m not a coach. We all want to play – Pepe included. He trains with the team and the squad depends on the coach.”

Jose Mourinho chose not to attend the press conference before the Atleti game but when quizzed on the matter, Ramos merely responded: “I’m not here to talk about that.”

The Real Madrid coach pays tribute to the retiring Manchester United manager, remembering the Scot’s graciousness when the Red Devils were beaten by his Porto side

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho says that “we will all miss” Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson after the Scot retires.

The Portuguese is in awe of the Red Devils boss and the length of time for which he was in charge of the club but is not surprised by how well he did.

Mourinho told The Offisde Rule podcast: “We will all miss him and, for me, it will be difficult to go to Old Trafford, especially for the first time, to play against Manchester United without such a figure in the opposite dugout.

“He is unique and probably Manchester United are a unique club because they gave the manager the conditions to do the job he did.

“Everybody knows that the beginning was not easy for him. Everybody knows that it took him three or four years to win the first piece of silverware and United gave him the conditions to do an incredible job. After that he was unique, absolutely unique.

“The number of trophies he won for Manchester United in English football is absolutely amazing and to manage for more than 20 years is incredible.”

Mourinho and Ferguson developed a great friendship during the former’s time as Chelsea boss but the closeness started a year before that when he brought his Porto side over to play in the Champions League.

That game ended with the Portuguese side winning in injury time and the Madrid coach says that he was taken aback the Scot’s graciousness in defeat.

“We scored in the last minute and we went through and it was not normal for me, not normal in the culture that I knew, that the opposition manager knocked on our dressing room door after the match – which was a moment when he would be very, very disappointed – and came in to congratulate me and invite me to go to his room for a glass of wine,” Mourinho enthused.

“That marked our relationship. After that we played so many times with each other and the next year I moved to England with Chelsea. After that the relationship went in that direction – it didn’t matter who won and who lost. The respect was always there.”

The former England captain has announced that he will retire at the end of the 2012-13 campaign, and simply wants to remembered as a passionate, hard-working footballer

David Beckham has revealed the reasons behind his decision to retire from football, insisting that he wants to be remembered as a “hard-working footballer” and is proud of his achievements in the game.

The PSG midfielder announced on Thursday that he would be calling time on a sensational career that has spanned two decades, and in an interview with Sky Sports News has insisted that he believes it is the right time to bring the curtain down.

DO YOU BELIEVE THIS IS THE RIGHT TIME?

He said: “I think I’m ready [to retire]. It’s a difficult decision. I still feel I could play at the top level and still have done for the last six months but I always secretly said to myself that I want to go out at the top. If you’d said to me eight months ago that I’d be playing in the French League, winning the French Cup, winning the League, and finishing like this I would’ve probably said ‘absolutely no chance’. But I was given the opportunity to come to PSG and I just feel now is the time… I think!

“I love the game so much. I just feel that, I don’t know, it’s the right time. I believe it’s the right time but I’ll always feel that I can do more, that’s the problem.”

WHEN DID YOU DECIDE YOU WANTED TO QUIT?

“Probably when Messi was running past me in that home game! No, I actually don’t know. I’ve been so lucky throughout my career, I just feel that the fact that the clubs I’ve played for and the players I’ve played with, won the trophies that I’ve won… playing in the MLS last year, winning the championship there, and then coming to PSG and winning the French League, I think it’s a good way to go out.”

DOES IT HELP YOU’RE LEAVING AS A CHAMPION?

“I think it’s every athlete’s dream, every footballer’s dream, to go out on top form or winning a trophy. It doesn’t happen that often but I’ve been lucky. When I left United, we won the league, when I left Madrid we won the league. Leaving the Galaxy; doing two years of winning the championship there, and now obviously coming here and winning the league. It’s nice to go out like that. I think people look back and it’s written. It’s simple. You’re leaving as a champion and I think that’s why it’s the right time.”

HOW DO YOU WANT PEOPLE TO REMEMBER YOU?

“I just want people to see me as a hard-working footballer. Someone who’s passionate about the game and someone that, every time I stepped on the pitch, I’ve given everything that I have because that’s how I feel going into games and the end of my career. That’s how I look back on it and hope people will see me.

“I think over the years it’s been… my life, my career, people have obviously looked at certain other things that have gone on throughout my career and I think sometimes that’s overshadowed what I’ve achieved on the pitch and as much as I say that doesn’t hurt me, of course it does. At the end of the day, I’m a footballer that’s played for some of the biggest clubs in the world, played with some of the best players in the world, played under some of the biggest and best managers and achieved almost everything in football.

“Of course it hurts when people, not question it, but think about other things. To come to the end of my career now and look back and say ‘I’ve achieved everything with every club that I’ve played for, played for my country 115 times, been runner-up twice in the World Player of the Year to two amazing footballers’. I’m very proud of that.”