According to reports coming out of Colombia, Monaco striker Radamel Facao is headed for Manchester, but to join 20-time English Premier League champions Manchester United, not the title holders Manchester City.
As reported by South American journalist Saris Bello (per 101 Great Goals), who works for DIRECTV Sports and Terra Colombia, the former Atletico Madrid striker, who won two Europe League titles during his time with the Rojiblancos and FC Porto, will undergo a Manchester United medical on Monday ahead of his €65m deadline day transfer.
Bello goes on to add that Falcao will be offered a 4-year contract with the Red Devils, and will be made the highest paid player in the English top-flight.
Manuel Pellegrini's side were reported favorites to land the Colombian ace, who was linked with a move to the Etihad Stadium prior to his mega-money Ligue 1 switch, but face financial restriction imposed by UEFA due to their Financial Fair Play (FFP) guidelines.
According to Saris Bello, Falcao will sign for Man United for €65m on a four-year contract
Sres @FALCAO al Manchester United lo compran por 65 millones de euros, va por 4 temporadas. Al City no se pudo por el fair play financiero
— Saris Bello (@sarisbello) September 1, 2014
En las próximas horas se hará oficial el paso de @FALCAO a Manchester United, ya con todo acordado viaja mañana y en la tarde los exámenes
— Saris Bello (@sarisbello) September 1, 2014
(Con) ManUnited bought @FALCAO for 65M Euros, he will be playing for 4 seasons and will be the player best payed in the Premier League (2/2)
— Saris Bello (@sarisbello) September 1, 2014
Adding fuel to the Falcao-to-United rumors, the Telegraph's Mark ogden made public a tweet by a Matt McNulty in which he claims the city of Manchester are expecting are private jet from Nice on Monday, pointing towards Falcao as the passenger, though failing to clarify which Manchester side is the last stop.
The tweet by @MattMC, made public by the Telegraph's Mark Ogden
So it begins...@MattMc_7: Private jet due in Manchester from Nice, France later this afternoon. Could this be Radamel Falcao? #MUFC #MCFC
— Mark Ogden (@MOgdenTelegraph) September 1, 2014
Monaco have put the striker up for sale and are willing to let him depart if their £55m valuation is met, but any possible move by Manchester City for Los Cafeteros superstar will face difficulties as the club have only been allowed a net spend of £49m.
Manchester City have £24m at the moment after selling Jack Rodwell, Javi García and Gareth Barry, but need to double that amount if they wish to land the 28-year-old striker, and are thus looking to cash in on Alvaro Negredo, Micah Richards, Matija Nastasic and Scott Sinclair in order to raise sufficient funds.
North London side Arsenal have also not given up hope on signing El Tigre, claims the Guardian, as rumors suggest Arsene Wenger is readying a last-minute mega-money bid for the Colombian in an attempt to add goalscoring talent in the wake of Olivier Giroud's four month sideline.