It’s time to think, Falcao

His feet are heavy, knees fragile, arms are hefty
                                      There are stains on his colors already
       He is anxious, but on the surface he looks calm and ready to take on the world, 
                               Everything is forgotten as he walks onto the pitch, 
                         The entire stadium goes loud as the name is announced 

As the world celebrated the 86th goal Lionel Messi scored to break Gerd Muller’s total number of goals in a single year, the feat achieved by another man on the same day in the same league had been sidelined. Atletico Madrid’s Colombian hit man, Radamel Falcao single handedly destroyed Deportivo La Coruna scoring five times.

Not once, not twice nor thrice but five times. That’s a lot of goals in a game by a man who has been on fire and is second in La Liga with 16 to his name behind Messi and three over Cristiano Ronaldo.

There are numerous evolutionary junctures for fans of various clubs, in terms of their thoughts, after the major performance he displayed at the weekend. The first is amazement, followed by assumptions and then salvage. And then the fan begs his club inwardly, be it Chelsea, Manchester City or Barcelona among the many, to do more than just find the funds to bring in the Colombian.

 

With over 100 goals scored for Atletico in three seasons, the one nicknamed El Tigre, is showing up with greater frequency and hence, the fight for his signature is anticipated to begin soon, if not already. Part of the difficulty is the release clause which is set at €55 million, which restricts clubs with any decent shot at securing his services, considering the Financial Fair Play rules they have to abide by.

But the fans want to see good dollars being used to upgrade a structure that may be able to endure the brutal season for the next few years. This could be confirmed in the case of the English trio of both Manchester’s and Chelsea (who had notably been his “boyhood” team according to his father).

Adding new debt to pay for old mistakes is foolishness which would be the case of certain acquisitions made by Manchester City and Chelsea. But adding debt to correct those mistakes is definitely a smart investment.

Falcao has left destruction wherever he had struck; at the same time leaving a legacy that cannot be matched. We have witnessed some of it – while he was at Porto and now at Atletico Madrid and with Colombia.

This is an opportunity for clubs to assess who needs to be disposed of, free some funds and develop a master plan that includes Falcao – and to do this with a sense of foreseen team unanimity in mind.

No matter where he ends up in the January transfer window or the summer; Spain, Italy or England; it is given that his name is surely be in the mind of those scheming to capture his services as well as those who cannot afford him but are dreading his presence in their respective leagues.